Brace for blistering heat over the weekend in Chandigarh

The maximum temperature is expected to touch 46°C by Sunday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), making for a blistering weekend

The maximum temperature saw a slight dip on Thursday, going from previous day’s 44.6°C to 44°C.

An orange warning will also remain in effect on Saturday. Orange is the second highest of the four colour warning system used by IMD, asking people to be prepared. (Ravi Kumar/HT)

However, even this minor relief will be short lived, as the maximum temperature is expected to touch 46°C by Sunday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), making for a blistering weekend.

At 44°C, the maximum temperature continued to be 5.4 degrees above normal, leading to heatwave conditions for the third straight day.

At the Chandigarh airport observatory, the maximum temperature was 44.6°C, six degrees below normal. This marked a shift from severe heatwave conditions to heatwave conditions at this station. The maximum temperature was 43.5°C at the Mohali automatic weather station (AWS) and 42.8°C at the Panchkula AWS.

Speaking about the slight dip in temperature, IMD Chandigarh director AK Singh said a Western Disturbance (WD) was active over the region, and had led to rain in parts of Punjab and Haryana on the intervening night between Thursday and Friday.

“The minor drop in temperature is due to the WD, but it is weak and its effect is likely to stop from Saturday. Therefore, the temperature is likely to go up to 45°C on Saturday and further to 46°C on Sunday and Monday,” he added.

There is a chance of light rain in the city next week, while the monsoon system has hit a bit of a lull, not advancing much in the past couple of days. Monsoon is likely to keep its date with the city by the end of the month. Till now only 3.2 mm rain has been recorded this month, which is 93.2% below normal for the corresponding period, after no rain in May.

An orange warning will also remain in effect on Saturday. Orange is the second highest of the four colour warning system used by IMD, asking people to be prepared.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature rose from 28°C on Thursday to 28.5°C on Friday, 2.2 degrees above normal.