Chilly start to new year, relief likely tomorrow in Chandigarh
As per the end of the month weather report prepared by IMD, 40.5 mm rain has been recorded in December, which is the highest since 2014 when 90 mm rain was recorded
As 2024 draws to a close and residents gear up to welcome the New Year, the weather forecast predicts continuation of the cold wave gripping the region. Temperatures are expected to remain low on Wednesday, with chill likely to persist. However, as per India Meteorological Department (IMD), some relief is likely from this cold on Thursday as the weather is expected to clear up for a few days.
Severe cold day conditions continued for a second day in a row with maximum temperature 8 degrees below normal on Tuesday.
Maximum temperature rose slightly from 11.3 degrees on Monday to 11.8 degrees on Tuesday, while still being 8 degrees below normal. Visibility remained around 800 meters on Tuesday, an improvement from Monday. IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul explained, “Fog rising creates a cloud cover just above the city which keeps sunlight from coming through. The situation will improve further on Wednesday and by Thursday we can expect that maximum temperature will come back to normal.”
However, a fresh Western Disturbance (WD) is likely to affect the region in the first week of January. Rain is likely in the city around Sunday as per initial forecasts. With recent snowfall in the hills and an advisory for further snow, chilly winds, from hills to the plains, will continue over the week.
Minimum temperature fell from 10 degrees on Monday to 9.4 degrees on Tuesday, 2.7 degrees above normal. In the next three days, maximum temperature will remain between 14 degrees and 17 degrees while minimum temperature will remain between 10 degrees and 13 degrees.
Wettest December in 10 years
As per the end of the month weather report prepared by IMD, 40.5 mm rain has been recorded in December, which is the highest since 2014 when 90 mm rain was recorded.
While normal rain for December is 15.6 mm, Paul said due to a strong WD last week there was above average rain. “Rain in the winters is completely dependent on WDs. Sometimes active WDs pass over the region towards the north but we got a good amount of rain this time,” he added. IMD will release a detailed forecast for the month of January likely on Wednesday.
Flights delayed
A total of six flights were delayed on Tuesday, including three arrivals at the Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport owing to poor weather conditions.
The arriving flights which were delayed are Air India flight AI619 from Mumbai which arrived at 8.48 am against the scheduled time of 8.20 am; Indigo flight 6E7718 from Jaipur which reached here at 2.52 pm against its scheduled time of 11.20 am, and another Indigo flight 6E7414, which was rescheduled to arrive from the same place at 9.34 pm against its scheduled time of 8.55 pm.
On the other hand, departing flights that were delayed, included Air India flight AI620 to Mumbai which departed at 9.42 pm against its 9 am schedule, Indigo flight 6E7719 which departed to Jaipur at 3.42 pm against the scheduled time of 12 pm, and Indigo flight 6E1481 that departed to Dubai at around 4.40 pm against its earlier schedule of 4.10 pm.
