Winter blues: Tricity freezes at 9-year low; Chandigarh colder than Shimla
Minimum temperature falls to 2.8°C; orange alert warns of dense to very dense fog and cold to severe cold wave across the region on Wednesday
Chandigarh shivered through its coldest night in nine years on Monday and Tuesday, recording a minimum temperature of 2.8°C, plunging well below Shimla’s 6.6°C minimum and 14.6°C maximum in the Queen of Hills.
Related news: Teeth-chattering cold across North India, Gurugram records season’s lowest at 0.6°C; Chandigarh, Delhi 3°C
The sharp dip brought winter blues to residents, with foggy mornings and icy winds adding to the chill.
Dense to very dense fog blanketed Tricity, with ground frost, mist, and haze gripping the area amid a severe cold wave, even as the sun peeked briefly under mostly cloudy skies on Tuesday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) bulletin confirms Chandigarh’s maximum reached 15.2°C, with minimum relative humidity at 65 per cent and maximum at 94 per cent.
A weather official noted Chandigarh’s prior lows were 2.4°C on January 11, 2017, and 2.1°C on January 24, 2016, marking Tuesday’s reading as the season’s harshest.
An orange alert warns of dense to very dense fog and cold to severe cold wave across the region on Wednesday, followed by a yellow alert for dense fog over the next five days until Monday.
Tricity forecasts predict mostly cloudy skies with dense fog, maximums starting at 14 degrees rising to 18 degrees, and minimums from 5-10 degrees, keeping weather dry except possible scattered showers at isolated places on Sunday and Monday.
Cold wave conditions persisted at many places in Punjab and Haryana, with dry weather overall and very dense fog reported in spots like Chandigarh itself.
Punjab and Haryana reeled under intense cold, with Ballowal Saunkhri in Nawanshahr hitting the region’s lowest minimum of 0°C and Hisar in Haryana at 1.5°C as the next lowest. Other chills included Bathinda at 1.6°C, Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur at 2.6°C, Faridkot at 2°C, Narnaul at 1.8°C, Gurugram rising to 3.3°C from Monday’s 0.6 degrees, Patiala at 3°C, Rohtak at 3.8°C, Karnal at 2°C, Ambala at 4.2°C, and Amritsar at 4.1°C.
