Chilly morning, rainfall greet city residents

Residents woke up to a chilly morning on Friday with low visibility and mild rain, which started around 7:30 am. Fog engulfed the city and its periphery areas and clouds were scattered when it started raining, forcing residents to stay indoors.

If predictions are to be believed, till December 30, the weather will remain cloudy and foggy and there are no chances for sunny days. Seeing the snowfall and extreme cold wave conditions in many parts of Himachal Pradesh, the Punjab weather department has also released an advisory of the prevailing weather conditions, asking people to take precautions amid low visibility and chilly winds.

The rain was accompanied with chilly winds. The maximum temperature of the city was hovering around 17-18°C while minimum was recorded at 7-8°C in the wee hours.

To save themselves from the biting cold, many underprivileged people were seen lighting bonfire with dry waste and wooden sticks by roadsides.

However, farmers maintained that this spell of rainfall was much needed and awaited and it was good for all crops. Balbir Singh Rajewal, a senior farmer from Samrala, said problems related to crops and trees would vanish with rain as it had given much-needed respite to farmers. For all crops, rain was beneficial and the growers were waiting for the same for long.

There was a thin attendance of morning walkers at the PAU, Rose Garden and other places due to chilly winds. Roads in the city were almost deserted till 9:30 am as the visibility was also poor due to fog and rain.

Narendra Puri, a morning walker at the PAU, said experts have suggested to avoid morning walks in the open in cold wave and he was seriously thinking about taking a break from the same.