Rain, thunderstorm throw life out of gear in Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab
Squall line formed between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh borders leads to orange alert in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali
A fresh western disturbance (WD) in the region led to rain and hail in Chandigarh and adjoining areas of Haryana and Punjab, throwing life out of gear on Thursday morning.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had forecast the rain and said it would continue during the day.
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IMD Chandigarh director Manmohan Singh said, “While we had detected the WD a couple of days ago, it was expected to be weak. A squall line has formed between the boundaries of Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. Regions falling in this, including Chandigarh and Panchkula, have received moderate rain with thunder and lightning.”
The squall line occurs when thunderstorms line up in a series and become a rain band. It is usually a short-lived event.
The IMD had declared an orange alert in parts of north Haryana, including Panchkula to Naraingarh and parts of Kaithal and in Punjab from Mohali to Chamkaur Sahib and parts of Dhuri.
The orange alert was also declared around Chandigarh, while a yellow alert was declared in various districts of east Punjab and north Haryana.
The orange alert is the second highest of the four-colour warning system used by the IMD. It asks people to be prepared for heavy rain, while yellow alert is the third highest and asks people to stay updated about the weather.
November is supposed to be the driest month of the year in the region and it’s likely that the monthly rain records for various cities for the past few years may be broken.
In Punjab, the highest amount of rain was recorded in Ropar that got 38.5mm of rainfall along with 21.6mm of rain in Gurdaspur and 19mm in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar.
In Haryana 11.4mm of rainfall was recorded in Ambala and trace rain in Sirsa.
In Chandigarh, 15.5mm of rainfall was recorded at the IMD observatory in Sector 39 and 16.8mm at the airport observatory.
As clouds started forming overnight, the cloudy weather kept the night temperature above normal in the region.
In Punjab, the average minimum temperature rose by 1.4°C on Thursday and is 6.5 degrees above normal. With the highest rain, Gurdaspur saw the lowest minimum temperature at 12°C.
In Haryana, the average minimum temperature rose by 2.1°C and is 5 degrees above normal. The lowest minimum temperature in Haryana was 12°C and at Bawal in Rewari.
The minimum temperature of Chandigarh rose from 12.6°C on Wednesday to 15°C on Thursday, 4.1 degrees above normal. This is the highest since November 10 when it had gone up to 16.2°C.
If rain continues during the day, a steep fall in day temperature is expected across the region, according to the IMD officials.
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