Rain in Punjab, Haryana ups mercury, fog lifts

CHANDIGARH - Moderate to heavy rainfall lashed most parts of Punjab, Haryana and their joint capital city Chandigarh Thursday, derailing normal life at many places. The rain led to a rise in mercury and the fog also lifted.

Met officials have predicted that similar conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours.

“Moderate to heavy rainfall has lashed most parts of Punjab and Haryana. It is continuously raining in some parts of the states since Wednesday night. Due to rains, weather has become clear and today we had respite from dense fog,” said a Met official here.

“We are expecting showers to continue at regular intervals for the next 24 hours. Our department has also recorded a marginal rise in the mercury as compared to the data of last one week.”

Road, rail and air traffic were affected by the rain Thursday. Most of trains and flights were running behind schedule. Besides road traffic was badly hit at various places in Punjab.

Punjab’s holy city Amritsar recorded a minimum temperature of 10.2 degrees Celsius Thursday morning, 7.2 degrees more than Wednesday.

Patiala city recorded a minimum of 8.7 degrees Celsius and received 16.7 millimetre (mm) rainfall till 9 a.m. Thursday. Whereas, Ludhiana, the industrial hub of Punjab, registered a low of 8.5 degrees Celsius and saw a rainfall of 7.5 mm.

The centrally-administered Chandigarh recorded a low of 10.4 degrees Celsius Thursday that was nearly three notches more compared to Wednesday. The city received 14.1 mm rainfall till 9 a.m. Thursday.

Haryana was also warmer as compared to a last couple of days.

Ambala recorded a minimum of 10.2 degrees and received 14.9 mm rainfall.

Hisar (5.3 mm rainfall) and Karnal (12 mm rainfall) cities in Haryana recorded minimum temperatures of 10.2, 11.1 and 12 degrees Celsius, respectively, Thursday.