Chandigarh: Mercury climbs to 22.8°C as rain plays hide & seek
As the sun shone bright, the maximum temperature rose from 22.3°C on Sunday to 22.8°C on Monday, 6.6 degrees above normal and higher than all of January last year
While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had predicted a rainy start to the week, rain remained elusive and residents enjoyed the second straight day of winter sun on Monday.

As the sun shone bright, the maximum temperature rose from 22.3°C on Sunday to 22.8°C on Monday, 6.6 degrees above normal and higher than all of January last year.
In 2024, January 30 was the warmest day in the month with a maximum temperature of 22.4°C. However, in 2023, it had gone up to 25.6°C on January 24.
The minimum temperature also went up from 8.4°C on Sunday to 9.8°C on Monday, 3.3 degrees above normal.
Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, “The nature of Western Disturbances (WD) has become elusive. The system passed from the north of this region and mostly affected parts of Himachal Pradesh.”
While WDs are a complex weather phenomena originating from the other side of Asia, Paul said climate change and climate variability were further making it hard to determine their path as seen on Sunday and Monday.
Brace for fog
While the WD has now passed the region, fog is likely to make a comeback, as per Paul. “Due to snowfall in parts of Himachal Pradesh and light rain in some parts of the region, moisture content will get high and fog formation is likely to resume after the effect of the WD weakens,” he said.
Dense fog had already started appearing on Monday night. But as another active WD is likely to affect the region from the weekend, fog formation may again get halted during that period.
In the next three days, maximum temperature will remain between 19°C and 21°C while minimum temperature will remain between 7°C and 8°C.
Poor visibility delays 16 flights, three cancelled
Poor visibility continued to disrupt flight operations at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport on Monday, leading to 16 delayed and three cancelled flights.
The cancelled flights included IndiGo’s 6E2194, 6E6204 and 6E6385, while IndiGo’s 6E724 flight from Goa, which was scheduled to reach here at 8.45 pm, was diverted to Delhi after it could not land due to foggy weather.
Shatabdi delayed by nearly three hours
The foggy conditions also led to significant delays across multiple railway routes catering to Chandigarh.
The morning Kalka-Shatabdi from Delhi arrived after a delay of two hours and 44 minutes, while the Unchahar Express ran behind schedule by eight hours and 26 minutes.
The Delhi Vande Bharat Express also faced a delay of 55 minutes, with the Ajmer Vande Bharat running one hour and eight minutes late.
Rail officials have advised passengers to check the updated schedules before travelling.
