Red alert issued for thick fog, biting cold in Chandigarh Tricity today
The Chandigarh Tricity is staring at a prolonged spell of severe winter conditions with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday sounding a red alert for dense to very dense fog at many places and cold wave at isolated places on Saturday. It will be followed by an orange alert for similar conditions on Sunday and Monday.
A yellow alert has been issued for dense to very dense fog at isolated places on Tuesday, easing marginally to dense fog at isolated places on Wednesday and Thursday.
The warning comes close on the heels of a wet start to the New Year that finally ended a month-long dry spell. Rain accompanied by thunderstorm and lightning lashed the Tricity on Thursday, with Chandigarh recording 13.7 mm rainfall, the highest single-day rainfall in Punjab and Haryana on the day. December 2025 had passed without any rainfall across the region, the first such occurrence since 2013.
Day temperatures plunged further, dipping by nearly two degrees and settling 5.2°C below normal, while night temperatures continued to remain above normal by about 2.3°C, indicating a narrow but uncomfortable daytime range under persistent cloud and fog cover.
According to IMD observations recorded at the Chandigarh weather observatory, the maximum temperature stood at 13.0°C, while the minimum was 9.5°C. Relative humidity levels remained high, fluctuating between 96% (maximum) and 81% (minimum), creating ideal conditions for dense fog formation. At Chandigarh Airport, the maximum temperature was 14.6°C and the minimum 9.0°C, with similarly high humidity.
The five-day forecast for Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula indicates persistent dense to very dense fog each morning and night, with dry conditions and light northwesterly winds offering little relief.
14 flights cancelled
Mohali: Fourteen flights were cancelled due to fog at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport here on Friday. The arrivals and departures from Hyderabad, Delhi, Jaipur, Dharamsala and Hisar had to be cancelled early in the morning and evening. — TNS
