IMD to give area-specific forecast for heavy spells in and around Chandigarh this monsoon

To give a more detailed forecast and warnings this monsoon, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Chandigarh centre will be issuing area-specific predictions when heavy spells of rain are expected. The system is expected to be functional in the next seven to 10 days.

“An area of 100 square kilometre will be covered under this plan. For heavy rains, the city will be divided into units of five to six sectors each, for which separate forecast will be given. We will also give separate forecast for villages in the periphery of the city and for the adjoining cities of Panchkula and Mohali,” said IMD director Surender Paul.

Paul said during monsoons, it is seen that due to the distribution of clouds, rain varies throughout the city. “Even when the monsoon was declared on Wednesday, 23.8mm rain was recorded at the IMD observatory in Sector 39 while only 2mm was recorded at the airport,” he said.

HOW IT WILL HELP

The area-specific forecast will be given to the traffic police so that they can assign duties of cops accordingly, said Paul.

“We will also provide special forecasts to officials of the administration and civic body, so that teams can be tasked with checking waterlogging and clearing broken branches accordingly,” he said, adding that the warnings will also be displayed for the public along with air quality index on screens, such as at Sukhna Lake and Sector 17.

Meanwhile, monsoon has spread to all parts of Punjab and Haryana on Friday, though no rain was recorded in Chandigarh till the evening. In the city, the weekend is likely to stay dry, although light rain upto 20mm is possible from Sunday evening. However, moderate rain upto 60mm is predicted from Monday onwards.

Maximum temperature went up from 34.1°C on Thursday to 35.4°C on Friday. Minimum temperature went up from 25.6°C to 27.2°C. In the next three days, maximum temperature will remain around 35°C while minimum will remain around 27-28°C.