Thunderstorm alert for Chandigarh Tricity; mercury dips
A sharp drop in daytime temperatures on Monday and 1.7 mm of rainfall over the past 24 hours signalled the arrival of an unsettled pre-monsoon spell over the Tricity. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued thunderstorm alerts for Tuesday and again for Friday through Sunday.
The maximum temperature at Chandigarh on Monday settled at 27.3°C — a steep fall of 5.6°C from Sunday’s 32.9°C. It was 4.3°C below normal. The minimum held steady at 19.2°C, a degree above normal.
Tuesday carries the first of the week’s two alert windows. The IMD has forecast partly cloudy sky with thunderstorm activity for the Tricity, with a maximum temperature of 31°C and minimum of 18°C. The weather warning flags thunderstorm and lightning accompanied by gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph at isolated places. Light rainfall is expected at isolated locations.
Wednesday (April 1) will also see partly cloudy sky with thunderstorm activity and isolated light rain. Thursday is likely to be largely dry with partly cloudy sky and a maximum temperature of 32°C — the warmest day of the coming week.
Second spell kicks off from Friday
The second active spell kicks in from Friday. April 3, 4 and 5 all carry thunderstorm and lightning warnings with gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph at isolated to scattered places. The IMD’s seven-day outlook shows scattered rainfall activity returning for both Punjab and Chandigarh.
The IMD, Chandigarh, classifies the current period under the pre-monsoon season (March-May), when convective thunderstorm activity is typical across the northwest plains.
