At 2.34 pm in Chandigarh on Wednesday. (Express Photo by Jasbir Malhi)
A GUSTY wind, travelling at a speed of 78 kmph and accompanied by dark clouds, literally turned the day into night on Wednesday as the temperature plummeted by six to eight notches in the afternoon bringing relief to residents from the prevailing heat wave. Due to the bad weather conditions at Chandigarh International Airport, flights remained affected for around two hours on Wednesday afternoon, said airport officials. Around 1.2 mm rainfall was recorded during the brief spell in the city, said officials. The gusty wind and rainfall brought down the temperature to 24-28 degree Celsius in the afternoon. Supply of electricity was also affected by the winds in certain parts of the Tricity.
The dark clouds hovering over the sky reduced visibility to a significant level around 3 pm. Deepesh Joshi, spokesperson of the Chandigarh International Airport, said some flights were affected by the bad weather and not a single flight landed or took off for at least two hours. A Jet Airways flight was even diverted to Delhi and later arrived in the evening, he added. “We are expecting light rain to continue at isolated places for the next three days due to the impact of the Western Disturbance currently passing over the region,” said a Met department official, adding that wind speed in the afternoon was 78 kmph.
The maximum temperature recorded during the day was 34.4 degree Celsius, which is three notches below normal. The night temperature, on Tuesday night, in contrast was recorded seven notches above the normal at 28 degree Celsius, which is the highest minimum temperature this season. “Partly cloudy sky with likely rain/thundershowers,” said the Met department in its bulletin for Thursday and Friday.
The maximum temperature has been predicted to remain around 34-35 degree Celsius during the day on Thursday. Officials said the temperature rose during Tuesday night due to the cloudy sky and is expected to again come down to the normal level during the next two days. In Punjab and Haryana also, light to moderate rain has been forecast at isolated places during the next 12 to 36 hours. A thunderstorm, accompanied by gusty winds, has also been forecast during the next 36 hours in the region, including Chandigarh.
A 66 KV line at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research in Mohali was damaged due to the gusty wind blowing on Wednesday. No one was injured in the incident but power supply was disrupted in Phase 10 and Phase 11.