Moderate rain dips mercury, waterlogs Chandigarh roads

Moderate rainfall during the last 24 hours dipped the day and night temperature considerably and also left most of the roads and streets waterlogged in Chandigarh.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana for another four days, beginning Saturday.

During the last 24 hours, Chandigarh received 39.6 mm downpour, which brought the maximum and minimum temperatures down by 3.5 and 2.8 degrees, respectively, as compared to yesterday.

The moderate rainfall, mostly during the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, gave respite from the hot and humid weather but also pained the residents once again with the low-lying areas, including majority of the roads, streets and rotaries turning into virtual pools of water, causing hardships and inconvenience to the public.

While 39.2 mm rainfall was recorded between 5.30 pm on Wednesday and 8.30 am on Thursday, only 0.4 mm downpour was logged during the day between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.

The maximum day temperature slipped to 30.4°C, which was 3.5 degrees less than yesterday and 2.8 degrees below normal. Similarly, the minimum night temperature dipped to 24.4°C, which was 2.8 degrees less than previous night and 2.3 degrees below normal.

Mohali remained the least hot in Tricity with 29.4 and 24.8°C maximum and minimum temperature, respectively, which was 2.7 and 2.4 degrees less than previous day’s reading, respectively. Panchkula remained the hottest with 30.8 and 24.9°C maximum and minimum temperature, respectively, which was also 2.7 and 2.3 degrees less than yesterday’s mercury, respectively.

The IMD recorded 24 mm rainfall in Mohali and only 0.5 mm downpour in Panchkula during the past 24 hours.

However, the relative humidity remained high at 94 per cent.

The weatherman has predicted partly and generally cloudy sky with thunderstorms and rain in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula for the next five days till August 5.

“As compared to yesterday, there was a fall of 0.6 and 0.2 degree in average maximum temperature, which was appreciably below normal by 3.4 and 4.5 degrees in Punjab and Haryana, respectively, on Thursday,” the IMD said, while recording the region’s highest maximum temperature of 33.5°C at Gurdaspur in Punjab, followed by 32°C at Palwal in Haryana.

The weather department observed light to moderate rain at most places and heavy rain coupled with thunderstorms at isolated places in Punjab and Haryana during the last 24 hours.