Punjab got 70% less rain and Haryana 54% less; no temperature ...
Over the past 24 years, Punjab has received deficient rainfall multiple times. (Express file photo by Gurmeet Singh)
In December 2023, Punjab received only 3.3 mm rainfall, which was 70 per cent less than the normal precipitation of 10.9 mm, as per experts with the India Meteorological Department, which has forecast cold, foggy and dry weather in Punjab, Haryana as well as Chandigarh till January 8.
Haryana received 2.8mm rainfall, 54 per cent less than the normal precipitation of 6.1 mm, in December. But Chandigarh received 108 per cent more than normal as it rained 32.4 mm in the Union Territory, where the normal rainfall is 15.6 mm.
Over the past 24 years, Punjab has received deficient rainfall multiple times. The highest rainfall was received in 2019, when the rainfall was 27.5 mm rainfall, 126 per cent more than normal. In 2017 the state received 37 per cent more rain than normal, followed by 14.1 mm in 2014.
However, 3.3 mm rainfall was the highest for December in the past three years; the state received only 0.1 mm rain in 2021 and 0.4 mm rain in 2022.
The average maximum temperature in December was 21 degrees Celsius in Amritsar, followed by 21.3 degrees in Ludhiana and 22 degrees in Patiala. The lowest average minimum temperature in December was 7.4 degrees Celsius in Amritsar, followed by 7.8 degrees in Ludhiana and 8.1 degrees in Patiala.
Amritsar observed 3.6 degrees Celsius as the lowest temperature in December while Ludhiana witnessed 2.8 degrees and Patiala 4.8 degrees.
No records of minimum or maximum temperatures were broken in December, Shavinder Singh, an IMD scientist in Chandigarh, told The Indian Express. Amritsar observed 3.6 degrees Celsius on December 9, 1996, Ludhiana 0.1 degrees on December 25, 1991, and Patiala 0.4 degrees on December 21, 1961.
Effect on crops Talking about deficient rainfall, Punjab’s director of agriculture, Jaswant Singh, said, “If it rains, the temperature drops. So the temperatures were on a bit higher side in December, due to which we saw stem borer disease in small patches in wheat this time. However, as the temperature has dropped in the past four to five days, the insect has died and sprays on the crop will protect it further. No doubt rain water is good for the crops. In its absence, groundwater is used for irrigation.”
Haryana Haryana too has received deficient rainfall multiple times in December since 2000, but in 2010 it received the maximum, which was 13mm, 75.9 per cent more than normal. In December 2022, the state received no rain at all, followed by 2.8 mm in December 2021, which was 55 per cent less than normal precipitation. The average maximum temperature was 20.7 degrees Celsius in Ambala in December, followed by 21.5 degrees in Karnal and 22.5 degrees in Hisar. Average minimum temperatures were also on the higher side in Haryana and no record was broken.
ChandigarhIn December in 2023, Chandigarh received the second highest rainfall (32.4 mm), after 2014, when the Union Territory received 90 mm rainfall. In 2022 and 2021, it received only 0.3 mm and 0.5 mm rainfall, respectively.
In the lowest as well as the highest temperatures, Chandigarh was not able to break any record of the past 11 years, as per the IMD. The average maximum temperature in Chandigarh remained 22.4 degrees Celsius in December 2023, while the lowest average minimum temperature was 8.6 degrees in December.
