At 3.3°C, Chandigarh colder than Shimla

Cold wave tightened its grip on the Chandigarh Tricity region today, bringing dense to very dense fog, cold to severe cold wave conditions, and ground frost at a few places. Compared to nearby hills, the Tricity felt the deeper chill — Chandigarh’s 3.3 degrees Celsius minimum undercut Shimla’s minimum and maximum readings of 8.8 and 17.2 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Night temperatures plunged further by 1.7 degrees Celsius to a season-low of 3.3 degrees Celsius at Chandigarh, 3.6 degrees below normal. Day temperatures edged up slightly by 0.3 degrees to 14.3 degrees Celsius, still 4.1 degrees below normal, as the sun appeared briefly amid haze and mist that persisted from shallow fog early Sunday to dense fog Monday morning.

Relative humidity stayed high, reaching 95 per cent at 8:30 am and maximum around 100 per cent, adding to the chill factor across the Tricity.

Weather remained dry and winds blew lightly for most of the day. In the broader region, the lowest minimum temperature hit 0.6 degrees Celsius at Bathinda in Punjab and 1.2 degrees at Narnaul in Haryana, marking the harshest cold spell this season.

A red alert has been issued, warning of dense to very dense fog, cold to severe cold wave and ground frost at isolated places on Tuesday.

After Tuesday, a yellow alert kicks in for dense fog at isolated places through Saturday, as per IMD forecast. Weather will stay dry all week with no rain expected, though scattered showers may occur at isolated places on Sunday.

Tricity forecasts predict minimums of 3 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Thursday, rising gradually to 6 degrees by Friday and Saturday, with maximums between 13-16 degrees Celsius under partly to mostly cloudy sky and dense fog spells.