After nine consecutive days of record-breaking, orange-level heat, Friday delivered a grudging pause. Chandigarh’s maximum temperature dropped by a sharp 4.4 degrees from Thursday to settle at 39.9°C — back to near normal, the most comfortable reading the city has seen in over a week.The orange alert that had been in force for days stepped down to a yellow alert on Friday, and for Saturday also the warning stays yellow — thunderstorm, lightning and gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph at isolated places for Punjab alongside a diminished heat warning. But the respite will be brief and partial. From Jattvibeday, the severe heatwave is forecast to rebuild steadily, graduating back to orange-level conditions from Tuesday through Wednesday, before easing to yellow on Thursday.Residents hoping Friday’s morning duststorm — which swept through Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula around 8:30 am with overcast skies and gusty winds — would finally convert into meaningful rain were disappointed. The IMD nowcast issued at 7:50 am had warned of thunderstorm with rain and gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph over the Tricity within two to three hours. The Patiala Doppler Weather Radar had confirmed active storm cells nearby. But the cells bypassed the Tricity, delivering only a trace of rainfall at Chandigarh — just enough to record in the books, not enough to feel. Light rain did fall at a few Punjab stations — Nawanshahr (1.8 mm), Faridkot (3.5 mm), Firozpur (2 mm) and Thein Dam (2 mm) — but the Tricity remained largely dry.FRIDAY’S DIP: RELIEF IN THE NUMBERS, NOT QUITE IN PRACTICEChandigarh’s 39.9°C was 4.3°C below Thursday’s 44.2°C and only fractionally — 0.2°C — above the seasonal normal for the date, making it the second most comfortable day temperature in Haryana on Friday after Yamunanagar, which recorded 39.8°C. Chandigarh Airport registered 40.6°C. In Punjab, the average maximum temperature crashed by 3.4°C and is now near normal — the first time in days that the state’s average has returned to seasonal levels. Bathinda remained the hottest station in Punjab at 44°C. In Haryana, Rohtak stubbornly stayed at 45.3°C while Bhiwani hit 45.0°C, Narnaul 44.5°C and Sirsa 44.4°C — the southern belt of Haryana showing little of Friday’s northern relief.THE PATTERN: YELLOW TODAY AND TOMORROW, ORANGE SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAYThe seven-day warning table is starkly laid out. Saturday carries the same dual warning as Friday for Punjab — thunderstorm and lightning with gusty winds of 30 to 40 kmph at isolated places, alongside heat wave at isolated places — and heatwave at isolated places only for Haryana and Chandigarh. The five-day Tricity forecast shows Saturday at 40°C maximum and 24°C minimum under partly cloudy skies, suggesting clouds may again build without delivering much rain. Jattvibeday turns mainly clear with 41°C maximum and 23°C minimum. Monday pushes to 42°C maximum. Tuesday hits 43°C. Wednesday touches 44°C — right back where the city was at its recent record-high peak. The orange alert for heat wave to severe heat wave at many places is flagged for both Tuesday and Wednesday across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, before dropping back to a yellow heat wave alert at isolated places on Thursday.The seven-day rainfall forecast shows isolated rainfall possible in Punjab on Saturday and in Haryana and Chandigarh only on Thursday, after five entirely dry days in between.NIGHTS REFUSE TO COOL: 26.2°C IN CHANDIGARH, 28.8°C IN MOHALIEven as the day brought some relief, nights remained oppressively warm. Chandigarh’s minimum temperature climbed further by 0.5°C from Thursday’s 26.2°C — actually the same 26.2°C was recorded on Friday morning, one degree above normal — while the airport observatory registered 27.8°C, 2.3 degrees above the seasonal normal. Warm nights were officially declared at isolated places across Punjab. Across the state, Patiala and Faridkot both recorded the hottest nights at 29°C. Mohali came in as Punjab’s second hottest night at 28.8°C, followed by Bathinda at 28.2°C and Ludhiana at 27.8°C. In Haryana, Sirsa recorded a minimum of 30.2°C — yet another remarkable overnight reading — while Ambala logged 28.5°C and Hisar 28.6°C. Average minimum temperatures in Punjab fell marginally by 0.8°C but remain 3.1 degrees above normal. In Haryana, minimums also fell by 0.8°C but remain 1.8°C above normal. Rohtak was Haryana’s coolest night at 22.4°C.WHAT THE PAST 24 HOURS BROUGHTThe 24-hour period ending Friday morning — combining Thursday afternoon’s activity with Friday’s early morning — brought light rain at isolated places in both Punjab and Haryana, gusty winds at many places across both states, thunderstorm and lightning at isolated places in Punjab, heat wave at many places in Haryana and at a few places in Punjab, and warm night at isolated places in Punjab. The thunderstorm, lightning and gusts that had been both feared and hoped for materialised at some stations but bypassed most of the region’s population centres.CHANDIGARH TURNS NORMALAt Chandigarh’s weather observatory, Friday’s maximum temperature was 39.9°C — right at the seasonal normal, the first time in days the city has not been running appreciably above it — and the minimum was 26.2°C, one degree above normal. Maximum relative humidity was 64 per cent and minimum 26 per cent. A trace of rainfall was recorded during the 24-hour period. Chandigarh’s cumulative seasonal rainfall from March 1 stands at 105.0 mm — 107.5 per cent above the seasonal normal.