Enveloped in dense fog, the city recorded its coldest day of the season on Sunday as the maximum temperature dropped sharply to 12° Celsius. This marked a decline of 2.4°C from Saturday’s 14.4°C, making it the lowest maximum temperature recorded so far this month and 6.2°C below the seasonal average.
Visitors at the Sector 17 Plaza amid chilly weather in Chandigarh on Sunday. (Keshav Singh/HT)
The minimum temperature remained nearly unchanged at 9.2°C, dipping marginally by 0.1°C over the past 24 hours and standing 2°C below normal. The maximum and minimum temperature had a difference of only 2.8°C on Sunday.
Surender Paul, director of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Chandigarh centre, attributed this to obscure weather conditions. The absence of sunlight and continuous cloudy sky has led to the chilly weather. In the coming days, slight change in maximum temperature is expected. The minimum temperature is expected to fall in two days and a subsequent increase thereafter. Till mid January, the weather is expected to remain cloudy and dry. The temperature may fall further during this time, said Paul.
During early morning hours of Sunday, the IMD observed shallow fog which turned dense between 8 am to 8.30 am.
The misty weather left the rail traffic disrupted, causing delays by 2-3 hours, much to the chagrin of travellers who had to wait while braving the chill. The Kerala Sampark Kranti Express was running late by 2.52 hours. The Sainagar Shirdi Kalka Superfast Express was delayed by 1.56 hours. The Amb Andaura Vande Bharat arrived late by half an hour. The New Delhi Kalka Shatabdi Express was late by 35 minutes in Chandigarh.
Till the filing of this story, Prayagraj-Chandigarh Unchahar Express was late by 2.10 hours, Jammu Tawi Sambalpur Express by 1 hour and New Delhi-Daulatpur Jan Shatabdi Express by 18 minutes.
New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi was running late by 29 minutes and Delhi-Kalka Express by 46 minutes. The Ajmer-Chandigarh Vande Bharat express arrived 20 minutes late.
No disruption was noticed in the air traffic.