With 40.3mm rain, April 18 was wettest day of the month in Chandigarh since 1953

Freak weather makes it wettest April in eight years, with more to come, says weatherman

With 40.3mm of rain late on Saturday and in the early hours on Sunday, Chandigarh experienced its heaviest shower in a single day in April. The monthly rainfall of April at 58.6mm is also the highest since 2012, according to the weatherman. India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials also said there could be more rain in the coming week.

As per IMD data, from 8:30am on April 18 to 8:30am on April 19 (period considered for tabulating 24-hour data) considered, the city received 40.3mm of rain, the highest ever in a day since the IMD started keeping records for Chandigarh in 1953. Previously, it was on April 26, 1998, that the city recorded 39mm rain, the highest in a single day.

Explaining the reason behind this, IMD regional director Surender Paul termed it a freak weather occurrence which he said was becoming a more common phenomenon these days.

“The unexpectedly high intensity of rain in Chandigarh can be attributed to the confluence of low level easterly winds with western disturbances. Usually easterly winds start in the region around the monsoon months, but this year they have started much earlier. Since Chandigarh is on the foothills of Himalayas, this region received the most rain. However, it is unlikely we will experience this again in this season,” he said.

IMD scientist Shivinder Singh said that rain combined with thunder can be very unpredictable. “The Sector 39 IMD observatory recorded 40.3 mm rain, while in the same time period the Chandigarh airport observatory recorded only 4 mm rain. There were continuous light spells of rain due to thunder and they were concentrated in a small part of the city. Stations across the region only registered light to moderate rainfall, going only up to 20 mm.”

IMD officials said there are chances light rain will continue in the city till Monday morning. After that, a brief dry spell can be expected with a rise in temperature. However, another system of western disturbances is likely to affect the region round Thursday, so the city can expect more rain in the coming week.