E-Paper
Weather update: No respite from chill in Chandigarh
Another rain spell, chilly winds drop maximum temperature by four notches in Chandigarh; after another day’s of rain, cold days and fog to continue
With intermittent rain throughout the day, maximum temperature once again fell from Friday’s 19.5°C to 16°C on Saturday, 4.3°C below normal, in Chandigarh.
After trace rainfall in the morning, the city received 17.6 mm showers in short spells till late at night, highest in about 10 days. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), more rain is likely on Sunday.
After it started raining, the mercury dipped at the IMD observatory in Sector 39 from 15.2°C at 11:30 am to 12.8°C at 2:30 pm, and remained around 12.5°C till the evening. With fresh snowfall in Himachal Pradesh, chilly winds — with speeds up to 37 kilometre/hour, according to the Air Force observatory — also continued to blow in the city during the day.
“An active western disturbance (WD) is affecting the region, which brought the rain. It is the third active WD that we have received this month, after the first two WDs led to over 100 mm rain in Chandigarh,” said IMD, Chandigarh, director Manmohan Singh.
Singh said the present WD system peaked on Saturday, though some rain is expected on Sunday as well. “But it will stop after that, and a drop in minimum temperature by four to five degrees can be expected,” he said.
Fog, cold days to persist
Cloud cover is once again expected to give way to moderate to dense fog from Monday morning, said the IMD director, adding: “Like last week, there is a chance that fog will persist during the day, leading to cold day conditions with below average maximum temperature. It will continue for a few days, before clearing up.”
According to the IMD, for a cold day to be declared in the plains, minimum temperature must go below 10°C and maximum temperature should remain 4.5-6.4°C below normal. If maximum temperature drops more than 6.5°C below normal, then a severe cold day is declared.
A spell of five severe cold days was recorded between January 15 and January 19, when maximum temperature dropped to 11°C on January 16 and 18, making them the coldest January days in six years. In fact, days remained colder in Chandigarh than in Shimla and Manali during this period.
442% surplus rain in Jan
As far as rain in concerned, 118.7 mm has been recorded in January so far, which is 442% above normal for this time period, according to the IMD. This January is already the wettest in five years. Before this, 132 mm rain was recorded in January 2017. However, after Sunday, more rain remains unlikely, and dry weather can be expected till the end of this month, said Singh.
Meanwhile, due to cloudy weather at night, minimum temperature shot up from Friday’s 6.3°C to 9.8°C on Saturday, 4.2°C above normal. In the next three days, it will remain around 9-10°C, while maximum temperature will settle somewhere between 13°C and 16°C, said the weatherman.
