Temperature fluctuations likely to continue in Chandigarh

Even the maximum temperature on Wednesday, a day after thundery development finally passed over the city, increased just slightly from 34.5°C to 35.4°C.

Temperature fluctuations that have marked the month of May so far this year are expected to continue in the coming days. Although earlier the Indian meteorological department (IMD) had predicted the mercury to reach up to 41°C by this weekend, it has now revised its forecast for the city. The maximum temperature will not be breaching 40°C anytime soon, states the IMD website.

Temperature has been fluctuating ever since the beginning of May. May 2 witnessed gusty winds with the speed reaching 75 km/h. These were the fastest winds observed this month although on Monday too wind speeds reached up to 60km/hr. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

In fact, the city recorded its coolest night for the month of May on Tuesday since 2015. At 19.6°C, the minimum temperature was four notches below 23.4°C recorded the previous night.

Even the maximum temperature on Wednesday, a day after thundery development finally passed over the city, increased just slightly from 34.5°C to 35.4°C. The humidity went up to 76%, attributed to 4.8mm rainfall recorded the previous day.

Even as clouds are expected to clear soon, the weatherman said new movement has been detected around the start of the next week because of the western disturbances. However, it is expected to affect Himachal Pradesh and Jammu more than Chandigarh.

“We will have more details about it in a day. But right now it is possible that this system will make the conditions cloudy again for a couple of days,” said an IMD official.

Temperature has been fluctuating ever since the beginning of May. May 2 witnessed gusty winds with the speed reaching 75 km/h. These were the fastest winds observed this month although on Monday too wind speeds reached up to 60km/hr. Accompanied by 1.2mm and 4.8mm rain on these two days, the winds brought down the mercury that had breached 40°C at the end of last month.

Shivinder Singh, a scientist at the local IMD centre, said such winds are common during this time of the year because of the western disturbances.

“There was a lot of panic, but there was nothing out of ordinary in the storms that hit the city,” he said.