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Chandigarh: Foggy conditions to prevail on New Year’s eve
An orange alert has also been issued for very dense fog in Chandigarh for Sunday while it has been downgraded to a yellow alert from Monday onwards. Orange alert is the second highest of the four-colour warning system used by the IMD. It asks people to be prepared while a yellow alert is the third highest and asks people to be updated.
The city will ring in the New Year amid foggy conditions, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
An orange alert has also been issued for very dense fog in Chandigarh for Sunday while it has been downgraded to a yellow alert from Monday onwards. Orange alert is the second highest of the four-colour warning system used by the IMD. It asks people to be prepared while a yellow alert is the third highest and asks people to be updated.
City sees first ‘cold day’
On Saturday, the city recorded the season’s first ‘cold day’, with the maximum temperature plunging down to 15.1°C. Chances of cold day will continue on Sunday as well, as per IMD.
At 15.1°C, the maximum temperature was 4.7 degrees below normal. As per IMD, for this region, a cold day is declared when the maximum temperature goes between 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below normal and minimum temperature goes below 10°C. It is similar to a cold wave, when minimum temperature falls below normal.
This is the first cold day of the season. Last December, there were two severe cold days declared in the city on December 24 and December 25. This is when the maximum temperature goes over 6.5 degrees below normal.
Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director AK Singh said, “Cold days in this region are directly related to dense fog. As there has been dense fog in the region for the past few days, sunlight has been limited and it has affected the day temperature here. There are chances of cold day conditions on Sunday as well.”
Even on Saturday morning, the visibility was below 25 metres in Chandigarh. This is classified as very dense fog as per the IMD. Singh said that because it remained foggy till the afternoon, day temperature remained below average.
Chances of dense fog are likely to continue for the next couple of days as per the IMD. Even as a western disturbance (WD) is active in the region it is feeble and hasn’t affected the fog formation as of now. Rain also remains unlikely for the coming week as of now.
The maximum temperature at 15.1°C was also the lowest it has gone this season. Minimum temperature meanwhile rose from 8°C on Friday to 8.9°C on Saturday, 2.2 degrees above normal. In the next three days maximum temperature will remain between 16°C and 19°C while minimum temperature will remain between 8°C and 9°C.
Air quality continues to be poor
Meanwhile, air quality continued to remain poor in the city. Average Air Quality Index (AQI) at 7:00 pm was highest at the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) Sector 53 at 263, followed by CAAQMS Sector 22 at 230 and CAAQMS Sector 25 at 228, all in the poor bracket. It was 160 at the Haryana State Pollution Control Board station at Sector 6, Panchkula, which falls in the moderate bracket.
Between AQI of 201 and 300, air quality is considered poor and it can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. AQI between 101 and 200 is considered and it can cause breathing discomfort to people with lungs and heart diseases.
