E-Paper
Chandigarh records coldest night as temperature dips to 5.3°C
Relief from biting chill unlikely in coming days; IMD issues orange alert for dense fog, cold day conditions in Chandigarh
As the city slept on Friday night, the minimum temperature slid to 5.3°C, the lowest so far this season.
Down from 6.4°C on Thursday, the night temperature was two degrees below normal.
As per India Meteorological Department (IMD), relief from the biting chill is unlikely in the coming days, with dense fog and below normal temperatures likely to continue.
At 5.3°C, Chandigarh’s minimum temperature was lowest since 5.7°C on January 4. However, it’s still not as low as previous years. In 2023, the minimum temperature had even gone down to 3.3°C on January 18, 1.6 degree below normal.
Day temperature six degrees below normal
Due to a short sunny spell in the afternoon, the maximum temperature improved from 12°C on Thursday to 12.4°C on Friday. However, it was still six degrees below normal.
As per IMD, this was the fourth consecutive day with “cold day” conditions.
For this region, cold day is declared when the maximum temperature falls 4.5°C to 6.4 degrees below normal and the minimum temperature falls below 10°C. There have been eight days this season with cold day conditions, and one day with severe cold day conditions, when the maximum temperature fell over 6.5 degrees below normal.
Chandigarh also continued to be colder than various hill stations in the region, with a maximum temperature of 17.6°C at Shimla and 14.4°C at Manali in Himachal Pradesh. The city had been colder than Srinagar for the past few days, but on Friday, Srinagar’s temperature fell to 9.7°C.
Speaking about the drop in night temperature, scientist at IMD Chandigarh, Shivinder Singh said, “The fall in night temperature is due to clear skies, allowing the temperature to drop. North-westerly winds, which are cold and dry, are also dominant and continue to blow in the region. Similar conditions will continue in the coming days, with chances of cold day, cold wave and dense fog conditions likely for most of next week.”
He added that IMD had increased their forecast for four to five days because of the low temperature and high humidity.
Brace for dense fog
IMD has also issued an orange alert for the city for dense fog and cold day conditions. Orange alert is the second highest of the four-level alerts issued by IMD. Under orange alert, residents are advised to stay alert and be prepared. It has been downgraded to yellow alert for the three days after that, asking people to keep watch and be updated about the situation.
Visibility of the city dropped to 100 metres at 5.30 am, which is characterised as “dense fog”. It improved to 600 metres by 8.30 am.
A fresh Western Disturbance (WD) is likely to affect the region from January 16, but it is unlikely to have much effect on the weather. Even earlier this week, a WD was active in the region, but fog formation wasn’t affected.
Over the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 14°C and 15°C, and the minimum temperature between 7°C and 10°C.
Air quality continues to be very poor
For the second consecutive day, the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) continued to remain in the “very poor” category.
At 320, the average AQI at 8 pm was highest at the Continuous Ambient Air Quality Monitoring Station (CAAQMS) in Sector 53, followed by the Sector 22 station at 318, both of which were in the “very poor” bracket.
The AQI was “poor” at the Sector 25 station at 259 and also “poor” at the Haryana State Pollution Control Board Station in Sector 6, Panchkula, at 209.
AQI in the “very poor” bracket (301-400) can lead to respiratory illness on prolonged exposure. In the “poor” bracket (201-300), it can cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. Hence, preventive measures are advised.
Two flights cancelled, 36 delayed
Flight operations continued to remain affected at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport due to bad weather, as two flights were cancelled and 36 were delayed on Friday.
IndiGo’s 6E2159 flight that was to depart for Delhi and 6E2162 that was to arrive from the national capital were cancelled. Apart from these, 22 departing flights and 14 arrival flights were also delayed due to adverse weather conditions.
