Chandigarh, March 10: A late-week rainfall spell is expected to break a month-long dry streak in Punjab, providing a reprieve from unseasonably high temperatures. According to the latest bulletin from the India Meteorological Department, a western disturbance is slated to impact the region starting March 14, bringing scattered showers and a slight dip in mercury levels.
The weather department declared that the current temperature deviation is particularly severe, with nighttime lows in some districts hovering nearly 10 degrees above what is typical for mid-March. Daytime temperatures have also remained consistently high, peaking at 33.6 degrees Celsius. Officials maintained that the state’s rain deficit for the first two months of 2026 stands at 26 percent, making the upcoming wet spell critical for the region.
“The weather in Punjab is likely to be dry during the next four days,” the IMD bulletin stated, adding that a cooling trend will likely follow as the western disturbance takes hold. High-altitude westerly jet streams with wind speeds of 140 kmph are currently prevailing over northwest India, contributing to the complex weather system.
While Punjab awaits the rain, adjacent states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are expected to experience isolated thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds earlier in the week. The weather office asserted that these systems will eventually influence the plains, helping to normalize the “markedly” high temperatures currently being recorded across the state.
