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Weather gods finally show mercy! Temperature drops in Chandigarh after evening showers
The temperatures in Chandigarh dropped by 18 notches in a matter of three hours – from 42°C at 5:30 pm to 24.9°C at 8:30 pm on Wednesday after the evening rain
After enduring several weeks of heatwave conditions, tricity residents heaved a sigh of relief on Wednesday evening as gusty winds and 1.2 mm rain brought the temperatures down by 18 notches in a matter of three hours – from 42°C at 5:30 pm to 24.9°C at 8:30 pm. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), chances of rain will continue on Thursday as well.
A red warning was also issued in the evening in wake of the squally winds going upto 60km/h. Red warning asks people to take shelter. The city experienced cool winds till 8pm and 1.2mm rain till 8.30pm.
IMD Chandigarh scientist Shivinder Singh said, “The rains are because of Western Disturbance (WD). We had predicted days in advance that the system will be active over the region. Chances of rain will continue on Thursday as well while partly cloudy conditions are expected over the next couple of days.”
This is the first spell of rain in the city since June 5 when 3.2 mm rain was recorded in the city. While this is 95.6% below normal for the corresponding period in June, the last spell of rain on June 5 had kept heatwave conditions at bay for a few days.
Heatwave conditions to return by weekend
IMD Chandigarh director AK Singh said that this time again, residents can expect relief from heatwave conditions for a few days.
“We are expecting that heatwave will stop on Thursday and will be experienced only in some parts of the region on Friday. However, since dry weather is expected over the weekend, heatwave conditions are likely to make a comeback,” he said.
As per the IMD forecast, by June 23, the maximum temperature can go upto 45°C due to dry weather. Singh further explained that Wednesday’s rain was not part of premonsoon or monsoon showers as premonsoon is expected towards the end of the month.
This summer has been exceptionally dry with no rain recorded in May, making it the driest May in 30 years, as per the IMD records. Even June has had rain on only one day and is expected to see below average rain. It is one of the longest heatwave spells the region has seen in recent history, as per IMD data.
Blistering conditions seen during the day
The maximum temperature remained unchanged between Tuesday and Wednesday at 43.1°C, which was 6.5 degrees above normal. As per the IMD, the conditions can be catergorised as severe heatwave which is declared for this region when the maximum temperature goes over 40°C or at least 6.5 degrees above normal.
The minimum temperature rose from 30.6°C on Tuesday to 31°C on Wednesday and was 4.5 degrees above normal. These are warm night conditions as per IMD which are declared after maximum temperature crosses 40°C, and when minimum temperature is also at least 4.5 degrees above normal.
Over the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 43°C and 44°C while minimum temperature will remain between 30°C and 31°C.
Power demand reaches all-time high
As the temperatures remained high during the day, leaving residents with no option but to keep the air-conditioners and desert coolers running, the demand for power reached an all-time high of 449MW on Wednesday, compared to 446 MW the day before. Last Thursday too, the power demand had surged to 449MW. The average consumption for the month of June (so far) is 440 MW whereas in May, it stood at 330 MW.Some areas also saw unscheduled power cuts. UT chief engineer CB Ojha said, “Though the city gets a daily power supply of over 500 MW, power cuts are seen when the power lines get heated up due to excessive demand. To cool down the power cables, short circuits happen sometimes. Also, the outages might be due to the occurrence of a sudden fault due to increased power demand in some areas. Therefore, for its repair work, power cut is imposed in the area.”
