Chandigarh relishes its coolest August day in two decades
It was in August 1997 that the maximum temperature was recorded any lower — 24.8°C — by the Indian meteorological department.
Mercury dropped by seven notches as the city received 18.4mm rain on Tuesday.
At 25.4°C, the maximum temperature was lowest recorded on any August day since 1997. It was also the coolest day of this monsoon.
It was in August 1997 that the maximum temperature was recorded any lower — 24.8°C — by the Indian meteorological department. In August 2004, the lowest maximum temperature was recorded at 25.6°C.
Even in June and July this year, the maximum temperature dropped to about 29°C only.
Rainy conditions are predicted to continue this week, though the mercury is likely to go up again.
In the morning hours, the city received 16.6mm rain. In fact, the airport observatory recorded 29.5mm rain during that time. Even as the residents relished the drop in mercury, traffic jams at various junctions proved to be a spoilsport.
The traffic police took to Twitter to give realtime updates about which routes to avoid.
Senior superintendent of police (SSP, traffic) Shashank Anand said: “Although our force is busy with the Independence Day vigil, we are pulling out extra cops from the traffic lines and traffic park. Our focus will be on congestion management rather than enforcement during rainy this week.”
Cloud cover over whole region
Meanwhile, the IMD officials said the sharp drop in temperature occurred because of the cloud system over the whole region.
“Rainfall in the morning lowered the temperature and the thick cloud cover kept the sun from warming the region. While Chandigarh received only moderate rainfall, places like Yamunanagar received up to 155mm rain in the morning. Due to this the whole region remained cool,” said an official. “Shimla was the coolest with maximum temperature of 18.6°C.”
According to the weatherman, more rainfall is likely on Tuesday. “However, it may not remain cloudy throughout the day as on Monday. The temperatures may rise because of it,” he said.
Wednesday onwards the rainfall is expected to lower. In the next three days, maximum temperature can rise up to 33°C and minimum temperature to 27°C.
