E-Paper
Chandigarh: City sees season’s 1st severe cold day; dense fog likely to continue
City colder than Himachal hill stations; IMD issues red alert for cold days, dense fog. With dense fog in the city, day temperature continued to plunge, going down from 15.1°C on Saturday to 12.4°C on Sunday, the lowest of the season. As per IMD, this was the first severe cold day of the season, a day after the first cold day was also recorded.
With dense fog in the city, day temperature continued to plunge, going down from 15.1°C on Saturday to 12.4°C on Sunday, the lowest of the season. As per the India Meteorological department (IMD), this was the first severe cold day of the season, a day after the first cold day was also recorded. The city was even colder than many hill stations of Himachal Pradesh. Chances of dense fog and cold days are likely to continue in the coming days with the IMD declaring a red alert for cold days.
At 12.4°C, the maximum temperature was 7.4 degrees below normal. As per the IMD, a severe cold day is recorded in this region when minimum temperature goes below 10°C and maximum temperature falls by over 6.5 degrees below normal. Last December, there were two severe cold days recorded in the city on December 24 and December 25. The season’s first cold day was also recorded on Saturday with maximum temperature going 4.7 degrees below normal.
At 12.4°C, the city during the day was colder than Shimla where maximum temperature went up to 14.8°C and Dharamshala where maximum temperature went up to 18.2°C and Solan at 18.8°C.
Visibility also remained affected with dense fog on Sunday morning. The visibility was between 50 meters and 200 meters, slightly improved from Thursday when visibility had dropped below 25 meters every morning. Even between 50 meters and 200 meters, fog is considered dense fog.
Speaking about the drop in temperature, IMD Chandigarh director AK Singh said, “The drop in temperature is bound to happen when it stays foggy during the day as it keeps sunlight from reaching the surface. After consecutive days of dense fog with no sunlight, day temperature starts to fall further.”
The IMD has also issued a red alert in Chandigarh, their first of the season for the city, for cold day conditions and dense fog. IMD officials have asked people to keep their skin moisturised and to stay wary of frostbite because of the cold weather and have asked people to use fog lights while driving in dense fog.
While a western disturbance is active in the region, it is unlikely to affect the formation of fog with dense fog likely in the mornings at least till January 4. It is expected that the day temperature will start to rise after that while the night temperature can fall further, as per IMD officials.
The minimum temperature increased further due to the fog cover, going up from 8.9°C on Saturday to 9.7°C on Sunday, 3 degrees above normal. In the next three days the maximum temperature will remain between 13°C and 15°C while the minimum temperature will remain between 9°C and 10°C.
12 flights cancelled, two rescheduled
A total of 12 flights at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport were cancelled and two rescheduled due to adverse weather conditions and low visibility on Sunday. Additionally, the runway was closed due to maintenance till 1.30 pm. Four flights have been cancelled for January 1.
On Sunday, the cancellation affected departure flights, including 6E2177 (Delhi), 6E5261 (Mumbai), 6E867 (Hyderabad), 6E146 (Lucknow), 6E971 (Chennai), 6E6634 (Bengaluru), and 6E6394 (Ahmedabad).
Flight UK668 (Delhi), initially set for 6.55 am, departed at 7.08 am, while UK654 (Mumbai), scheduled for 8.20 am, took off at 8.50 am. Additionally, 6E6056 (Goa), with a scheduled departure at 6 am, departed punctually at 6.02 am. The flight UK653 (Mumbai) arrived a minute before its scheduled arrival at 7.45 am.
Adverse weather conditions led to the cancellation of additional flights, including 6E6395 (Ahmedabad), 6E7413 (Jaipur), and 6E681 (Pune). Similarly, arrival flights 6E242 (Pune) and 6E6633 (Bengaluru) were also cancelled.
Furthermore, the runway at Chandigarh airport underwent scheduled maintenance by the Indian Air Force, rendering flights non-operational from 8.30 am to 1.30 pm.
Due to the adverse weather conditions, flights 6E5261 (Mumbai), 6E867 (Hyderabad), 6E2177 (Delhi), and 6E6634 (Bengaluru) will remain cancelled on January 1 as well.
Fall in day temp & rise in night temp since Christmas
Date Temperatures
Dec 25: Max 22.6°C Min 7.8°C
Dec 26: Max 21.5°C Min 8°C
Dec 27: Max 23.4°C Min 8.2°C
Dec 28: Max 19.5°C Min 8.8°C
Dec 29: Max 21.2°C Min 8°C
Dec 30: Max 15.1°C Min 8.9°C
Dec 31: Max 12.4°C Min 9.7°C
