With 57.4 mm rainfall, this October was Chandigarh’s wettest in 11 years
Cloudy weather is expected to continue as city enters November, while rain will remain unlikely, as per the India Meteorological Department
Even as October ended on a dry note in the city, it was the wettest since 2014, paving the way for a pleasant transition to winter.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), 57.4 mm rainfall was recorded in the city in October, taking average of both the airport and the Sector 39 observatories.
This was 217% above the normal figure, which is 18.1 mm.
Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said, “While the monsoon withdrawal was declared in the region on September 24, an active Western Disturbance, interacting with the withdrawing monsoon system, led to above average rain here.”
Cloudy weather is expected to continue in the city in the first week of November, while rain will remain unlikely.
Cyclone Montha, which is currently active over the Bay of Bengal, has had some impact on the region, leading to haze in the morning and partly cloudy weather during the day.
Paul added that dry and cold North-Westerly winds were likely to start blowing in the region in the coming days. “These winds usually signify the advent of winter, as temperature starts to fall more noticeably,” he added.
Amid sporadic rain spells in October, the city recorded an average maximum temperature of 32.3°C, which was lower than last year’s 33.7°C. The average minimum temperature, at 18.6°C, was also lower than last year, when it was 19.8°C.
Since 2011, the lowest average maximum temperature for October was 30.9°C in 2019 , while the lowest average minimum temperature was 16.7°C in 2018.
Due to cloudy weather, the maximum temperature fell from 32°C on Thursday to 30.9°C on Friday, but still 2.1 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature on the other hand rose from 16.9°C to 18.8°C, but also 4.7 degrees above normal.
Over the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain in the same ballpark and the minimum temperature may rise to around 17°C.
Panchkula’s air quality drops to ‘poor’ again
After showing improvement for a day, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Panchkula worsened again on Friday.
On Wednesday, Panchkula had recorded an AQI of 334, considered “very poor”. The next day, it improved to 165, classified as “moderate”. But the AQI turned “poor” again on Thursday, as it climbed to 254.
Chandigarh’s air quality also slipped slightly, moving from 125 to 135 between Thursday and Friday, but still falling in the “moderate” bracket.
The daily AQI bulletin is released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) after taking the average AQI readings of all monitoring stations in a city at 4 pm.
While Chandigarh has three stations in Sectors 22, 25 and 53, Panchkula has one in Sector 6.
IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said localised weather systems were causing fluctuations in AQI and these were expected daily till the arrival of North-Westerly winds in some days.
UT environment department officials also confirmed that the fluctuations weren’t being caused by any human factors, as of now, but they will continue to monitor the situation.
