Chandigarh endured its second consecutive day at 41°C on Saturday, matching Friday’s season high exactly, with the departure from normal holding steady at 5.1 degrees, as the heatwave tightening its grip over Tricity, Punjab, and Haryana refused to yield.In a significant escalation, IMD converted Saturday’s yellow alert for heatwave and severe warm night at isolated places into an orange alert — a step-up warning signalling more intense conditions — even as the overall heatwave alert, originally forecast to end Saturday, has now been extended by two more days through Monday.The nights too are getting measurably warmer. Chandigarh’s minimum temperature touched 23.2°C on Friday — 1.9 degrees above normal — the warmest night recorded in the city this summer, edging past Thursday’s 23 degrees.On Monday, both alerts will run simultaneously — the heatwave and warm night yellow alert continuing alongside a fresh yellow alert for thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 40 to 50 kilometres per hour at isolated places across Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana — valid through Thursday. What was earlier forecast as Jattvibeday’s rain window has now shifted to Monday, with scattered rainfall at isolated places expected from Monday through Thursday — offering the region’s most credible prospect of relief after a punishing ten-day heat siege. IMD forecasts no large change in maximum temperature over the next two days, followed by a fall of 3 to 4 degrees thereafter.Today’s weatherSaturday stayed bone dry across Punjab and Haryana. Warm night to severe warm night conditions were reported from a few places in Haryana — a marked intensification from the isolated warm night readings of recent days. Warm night conditions were also recorded at a few places in Punjab. Heatwave conditions were reported from a few places in Haryana and isolated places in Punjab. At Chandigarh’s weather observatory, relative humidity ranged between 59 per cent in the morning and 24 per cent by afternoon — one of the driest afternoon readings of the season. Chandigarh’s seasonal rainfall since March 1 stands at 73.4 mm — 146.3 per cent above the seasonal normal.Punjab scorches at 45.2°C; Haryana at 44.6°CPunjab recorded its hottest reading of the season on Saturday. Faridkot topped the state at a searing 45.2°C — 4.9 degrees above normal — followed by Bathinda at 44.2 degrees, Patiala at 42.5 degrees, Ludhiana at 42.2 degrees and Amritsar at 40.3 degrees. Chandigarh city held at 41 degrees for the second consecutive day. Punjab’s average maximum was appreciably above normal by 4.9 degrees — the highest departure of the season. The state’s average minimum rose 1.1 degrees and was appreciably above normal by 5 degrees — the sharpest above-normal departure in minimum temperatures recorded this season. The lowest minimum in Punjab was at Gurdaspur at 21°C. Faridkot recorded a startling minimum of 29.2°C, signalling severe warm night conditions at isolated pockets.In Haryana, Rohtak again topped the state at 44.6°C — 5.9 degrees above normal — followed by Faridabad at 43.6 degrees, Sirsa at 43.4 degrees, Narnaul at 43.5 degrees, Hisar at 43 degrees and Karnal at 42.8 degrees. Ambala recorded 41.9 degrees. Haryana’s average maximum was appreciably above normal by 5 degrees while the average minimum was appreciably above normal by 4.9 degrees — with Bhiwani recording a minimum of 30 degrees Celsius and Narnaul at 29.5 degrees, clearly in severe warm night territory. The lowest minimum in Haryana was 22.4°C at Karnal.Five-day Tricity outlookJattvibeday will be mainly clear with a maximum of 41 degrees and a minimum of 24 degrees — the heatwave orange alert in force. Monday turns partly cloudy with the maximum holding at 41 degrees and the minimum at 24 degrees, with both the heatwave yellow alert and the new thunderstorm-lightning yellow alert running simultaneously. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will bring partly cloudy skies with thunderstorm, lightning and rain — the maximum easing from 41 to 40 degrees on Tuesday and dropping to 38 degrees by Wednesday, while the minimum falls to 23 degrees on Tuesday and 21 degrees by Wednesday — signalling the first meaningful break in the heat after nearly a fortnight of relentless above-normal temperatures.