After Thursday’s orange alert largely fizzled out across the Chandigarh Tricity, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has once again sounded an orange alert for Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana for Friday, warning of hailstorms, thunderstorms, lightning and squally winds reaching 60-70 kmph at isolated places. Thereafter, a yellow alert will remain in force from Saturday till next Wednesday for thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 40-50 kmph at isolated locations.
According to the IMD’s latest evening bulletin, rain activity is expected to remain fairly widespread across Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana on Friday, scattered on Saturday and isolated from Sunday through Wednesday, indicating a wet weekend and an unsettled week ahead. The sustained spell of rain and thunderstorm activity is likely to suppress the prevailing heatwave conditions and keep temperatures below seasonal averages.
Ironically, Thursday’s orange alert failed to make any significant impact across the Tricity till the filing of this report. Residents witnessed a brief but intense spell of thunder, lightning and strong winds around 5 am that lasted barely 15 minutes before conditions quickly returned to hot and humid. The day thereafter remained largely dry despite the forecast of severe weather.
Rainfall figures reflected the limited impact of the weather system. Chandigarh recorded only 1 mm rainfall at the airport observatory and 0.3 mm at the city observatory, while Mohali received 3.5 mm rain during the day.
Even so, temperatures registered a sharp decline. Chandigarh’s maximum temperature settled at 36°C, a drop of 6 degrees Celsius from the previous day and 2.6 degrees below normal. Mohali recorded 34°C, witnessing an even steeper fall of 6.9 degrees Celsius and emerging as the coolest location in Punjab on Thursday.
Night temperatures also dipped significantly. Chandigarh recorded a minimum temperature of 26.3°C, down 2.4 degrees from the previous night, while Mohali’s minimum fell by 5.1 degrees to 24.1°C.
Across Punjab, the average maximum temperature fell by 3.8 degrees Celsius and remained 2.1 degrees below normal. Despite the cooling trend, Fazilka’s Abohar remained the hottest place in the state at 42°C. In Haryana, the average maximum temperature also declined by 3.8 degrees, although temperatures remained near normal, with Bhiwani recording the state’s highest maximum temperature of 45°C. Heatwave conditions were reported at isolated places in Punjab during the past 24 hours.
For the Tricity, the IMD has forecast partly cloudy skies accompanied by thunderstorms and rain from Friday through Sunday. Maximum temperatures are expected to remain between 35°C and 36°C during the next three days before gradually rising to 37-38°C early next week, while minimum temperatures are likely to hover around 24-25°C.
With back-to-back weather alerts and a prolonged spell of rain forecast, meteorologists expect the coming days to bring much-needed relief from the intense June heat, even though Thursday’s much-hyped orange alert delivered little more than an early-morning rumble.
