Winter chill to arrive in Haryana this week; rain, 50 kmph winds till October 12

The Standard Desk

CHANDIGARH. Haryana’s nights are set to turn cool for the first time this season. Two weather systems arriving back to back will bring rain, thunder and strong winds over the next six days, pulling temperatures down across the state just as October’s lingering heat begins to fade.

Dr Madan Khichar, weather expert at Chaudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University in Hisar, said the rain and strong winds in the coming days will bring temperatures down, and nights could see the start of “gulabi thand”.

Gulabi thand is the light, pleasant chill that marks the start of winter. It is felt late at night and in the early morning, when the fan goes off and a light sheet comes out, well before the biting cold of December.

Why the chill now

The cooling will come in two rounds. The first western disturbance hits from Wednesday night till Friday, bringing light rain with winds, thunder and lightning to Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra, while other parts of the state may see only scattered drizzle.

The second system, active from October 9, will do most of the cooling. From October 10 to 12, most of Haryana will see partly cloudy skies and light rain with winds and thunder, pulling down both day and night temperatures.

The drop will be felt sharply because Haryana has stayed warmer than usual so far. On October 4, maximum temperatures were 1.6 to 3 degrees Celsius above normal at many places over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, and night readings ran 3.1 to 5 degrees above normal at some places.

Thunderstorm warning from Wednesday

IMD has warned of thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, gusting to 50 kmph, at isolated places over Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and Punjab from October 7 to 9. There is no such warning for Haryana for October 6.

Heavy rain, though, is not expected. IMD has put Haryana in the “isolated” rainfall category from October 6 to 11, which means rain at only 1-25% of reporting stations, and its bulletin does not forecast heavy rain over the state during the spell.

The monsoon is already gone. On October 1, IMD said conditions were favourable for its withdrawal from the remaining parts of Punjab and Haryana within two to three days, and by October 5 the withdrawal line had moved far east, through Supaul, Ranchi and Raipur.

Worry in mandis

Paddy farmers will be watching the sky. Kurukshetra lies in the first rain belt, and on October 2 Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini checked paddy moisture himself at Ladwa grain market, promising: “Every single grain of paddy brought by farmers to the mandi will be procured.”

Wet grain is what farmers fear most. Rain on October 6 and 7 last year damaged standing crops and uncovered stock in Haryana, with Narnaul logging 41 mm, Mahendragarh 33 mm and Ambala 26.8 mm. At Karnal’s grain market, thousands of tonnes of paddy lying in the open got soaked, and wet grain faced rejection. “Farmers are being forced into distress selling at throwaway prices,” Bahadur Mehla Baldi of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Sir Chhotu Ram) had said then.

Day-wise outlook

– Wednesday (Oct 7): Thunderstorm warning begins; rain in Ambala, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Kurukshetra by night

– Thursday–Friday (Oct 8–9): Thunder, lightning, winds up to 50 kmph at isolated places

– Saturday–Monday (Oct 10–12): Clouds and light rain in most districts; cooler days, nights turn nippy