Even as Chandigarh recorded the coolest night across the Punjab-Haryana region on Wednesday with the minimum temperature dropping to 16°C — a sharp 5.3 degrees below normal — the day turned decidedly hot with the maximum climbing to 38.1°C, 2.8 degrees above normal and 1.3 degrees higher than Wednesday.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has simultaneously kept a yellow alert for thunderstorm and lightning accompanied by gusty winds of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour at isolated places alive across Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana for Friday.IMD’s Meteorological Centre, Chandigarh, in its evening media bulletin on Thursday, forecast a gradual rise in maximum temperature by 2 to 3°C over the next three days with no large change thereafter.Thursday stayed dry across both Punjab and Haryana. At the Chandigarh weather observatory, relative humidity ranged between 71 per cent in the morning and 33 per cent by afternoon — a wide swing reflecting the increasingly arid daytime conditions typical of the advancing pre-monsoon season.In Punjab, temperatures were appreciably above normal across the state, running 3.5°C higher than the seasonal average. Bathinda topped the day with a maximum of 40.7°C. The coolest night in Punjab was at Gurdaspur at 16.5°C. Salern in Hoshiarpur recorded the warmest night in Punjab at 22°C.Haryana ran hotter still, with temperatures appreciably above normal by 3.6°C across the state. Narnaul in Mahendragarh sizzled at 42°C — the highest maximum in the state — while Rohtak was close behind at 41.9 degrees and Hisar at 41.2 degrees. Bopani in Faridabad recorded 41.6°C on the AWS network. The lowest minimum in Haryana was 17.3°C at Hathinkundberaj in Yamunanagar.Chandigarh’s seasonal rainfall since March 1 stands at 73.4 mm — a departure of 170.8 per cent above normal, reflecting the heavy unseasonal rains that lashed Tricity in recent weeks.Five-day Tricity forecastPartly cloudy skies will persist over Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula for the next three days — Friday through Sunday — before mainly clear skies return from Monday. The maximum temperature, currently at 38.1 degrees, will nudge to 37 degrees on Friday, rise to 38 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, and then climb further to 39 degrees on both Monday and Tuesday. Night temperatures will rise in step, from 18 degrees on Friday to 21 degrees by Tuesday.The yellow alert for thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph at isolated places covers Punjab as well as Haryana and Chandigarh on Friday. No weather warning has been issued for the remaining days of the forecast period.