Chandigarh sees coldest January day in 5 years

With a maximum temperature of 11.1 degrees, 10 degrees below normal, Tuesday was the coldest January day in five years as per India Meteorological Department (IMD) since 2016 when the maximum temperature had fallen down to 11 degrees.

With minimum temperature at 7.8 degrees, it was a severe cold day as per the IMD. This happens when the maximum temperature goes over 6.5 degrees below normal and minimum temperature falls below 10 degrees. This is the second such severe cold day of the year and the IMD officials are warning that more are coming.

Speaking about it, IMD scientist Shivinder Singh said, “There was a layer of fog over the city which didn’t clear throughout the day, due to which day temperature was affected. On Monday, the sun had come out in the afternoon so maximum temperature had gone up to 1.8 degrees, however, due to similar conditions on Sunday the maximum temperature had remained at 12 degrees.”

Singh added that cold day conditions, when the maximum temperature remains 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below normal and the minimum temperature goes below 10 degrees, are likely on Wednesday and Thursday, and some relief is likely from Friday morning onwards.

Visibility between 50 to 250 metres

A fog belt was present across Southern parts of Punjab and Northern parts of Haryana throughout the day. In the city, visibility was between 50 to 250 metres at 5.30am and stayed under 1,000 metres till noon.

Minimum temperature also took a dip from 9.8 degrees on Monday to 7.8 degrees on Tuesday, however, it still remained three degrees above normal due to the cloud cover and fog. In the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 14 degrees and 16 degrees while the minimum temperature will remain between 6 and 9 degrees. Dry weather will continue and moderate to dense fog can be expected along isolated pockets especially in the mornings and evenings.