Chandigarh likely to get above average rain this January; brace for colder days
The maximum temperature of Chandigarh fell from 11.8°C on Tuesday to 11.3°C on Wednesday, 6.9 degrees below normal
With the start of 2025, the India meteorological department has issued a long-range forecast for the month of January. As per this, the city is likely to receive above average rain and see below average day temperature.

The forecast, which is prepared by using probability models for the whole country, has predicted that there is an up to 45% chance of above average rain this month. The average rain in January is 37.6 mm which is calculated by taking average of past 20 years.
Last year only 1.1 mm rain was recorded in the whole month, which was also there on the last day of the month. Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, “This has to do with western disturbances. This month we have an active WD likely to affect the city around January 5. Further we are expecting another WD in the second week of January as well.” With more snowfall in the hilly reaches of Himachal Pradesh, Paul said that chilly winds will continue for at least the first two weeks of the month. “The first two weeks of January are among the coldest of the year and with some snowfall in Himachal almost daily its effects will also be felt in the plains.”
While the long-range forecast also mentions that the city will have above normal minimum temperature and below normal maximum temperature, Paul said this correlates with rain as rain during the day leads to fall in temperature while cloudy weather and rain at night cause night temperature to increase. A spell of moderate to dense fog is also likely in the city during the start of the month, although as per Paul there are chances of a bit of sunlight on Thursday and Friday during the day.
The maximum temperature of the city fell from 11.8°C on Tuesday to 11.3°C on Wednesday, 6.9 degrees below normal. This is the third consecutive day with severe cold day conditions in the city. As per IMD, severe cold day conditions are declared when minimum temperature falls below 10°C and maximum temperature falls over 6.5 degrees below normal. Last year also there was a long spell of severe cold day conditions at the start of the month, and the lowest that the day temperature fell was 9.4°C on January 21. Visibility fell down to 300 meters in the morning at 8.30 am as per the IMD. This is classified as moderate fog by the IMD, and visibility was able to improve to 900 meters by 11.30 am but remained below 1,200 meters during the day . The minimum temperature also fell from 9.4°C on Tuesday to 8.7°C on Wednesday, 1.5 degrees above normal. In the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 11°C and 15°C while the minimum temperature will remain between 9°C and 12°C.
A total of nine flights, including five arrivals, were delayed at Chandigarh International Airport on Wednesday due to fog.
Indigo 6E7718 from Jaipur landed at Chandigarh International Airport at 2.48 pm against the scheduled time of 11.20 am. AI2659 from Mumbai arrived here at 4.51 pm against the scheduled time of 2.40 pm. Indigo 6E2196 flight from Delhi landed here at 4.34 pm against the scheduled time of 4.10 pm. Indigo 6E5178 flight from Mumbai arrived here at 6.52 pm against the scheduled time of 6.15 pm.
