Chandigarh shivers on coldest December night in 5 yrs

Minimum temperature plunged to 2.9°C — three notches below normal — in wee hours of Sunday, the lowest this season and for December since 2014, when it had gone down to 2.3°C.

With this, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) officially declared it to be the first day of cold wave this season. It comes after 11 consecutive days of “severe cold days”. Similar conditions are likely to continue on Monday, before western disturbances become active in the city and maximum temperature returns to normal.

In fact, minimum temperature was just a fraction above that recorded in Shimla (2.8°C). At 11.1°C, maximum temperature was much lower than that in the hill station (14.4°C).

Cold wave in planes is declared when minimum temperature goes below 10 degrees and is 4.5 degrees below normal. It is also declared when minimum temperature drops below 4 degrees, irrespective of the departure from normal.

“Nights in the previous week were cloudy. Saturday night was the first clear night, which is why temperature fell so steeply. Clouds act as a blanket, preventing heat from escaping and keeping the minimum temperature on the higher side,” said IMD scientist Shivinder Singh. On Saturday, minimum temperature was recorded at 5.1°C.

Meanwhile, bringing some respite from cold wave, bright sunlight was seen around noon for the first time after a week. However, maximum temperature went down from Saturday’s 11.7°C to 11.1°C, 10 notches below normal.

IMD officials said that fog formed during the morning hadn’t risen up into the sky, forming low clouds over the region, and the sky was also clear, allowing the sunlight to reach the ground for around four hours. However, visibility was down to 100 metres at 8:30am due to dense fog.

The weatherman said Monday morning will be similarly cold, and clouds can be expected from Tuesday onwards. “A western disturbance will make the sky cloudy from December 31, some light rain can be expected on January 1, but more rain is likely on January 2. After this, dense fog can be expected, especially if wind speed goes down,” said Shivinder Singh.

Meanwhile, the red alert for cold wave and severe cold day conditions sounded in Chandigarh on Sunday has been downgraded to orange from Monday. While orange warning asks authorities to “be prepared”, red alert asks them to “take action”.

In the next three days, maximum temperature will remain between 11 and 12 degrees while minimum will be between 4 and 6 degrees.

Source: Read Full Article