Chandigarh, Jan. 15 -- After recording chilly nights for weeks, Chandigarh on Wednesday saw the bitter cold spill into the day too, as the city's maximum temperature crashed to 8.9degC, a biting 9.5 degrees below normal and lowest in 13 years. Down from 15.2degC on Tuesday, the maximum temperature on Wednesday was second only to 6.1degC, recorded on January 8, 2013. The tumbling mercury made Chandigarh colder than even snowy reaches of Kashmir, where Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 13.3degC and Pahalgam 10.6degC, while Gulmarg was comparable at 8.2degC. Even Shimla and Manali in Himachal Pradesh were warmer at 17degC and 14.8degC, respectively. While Chandigarh's minimum temperature rose from 2.8degC on Tuesday to 3.8degC on Wednesday, it was still 3.1 degrees below normal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), this was the season's first "severe cold day", declared when the minimum temperature falls below 10degC and the maximum is over 6.5 degrees below normal. IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul attributed the sudden drop in temperature to dense fog persisting through the day, blocking sunlight and forcing commuters to use headlights even at noon. Forecasting very dense fog on Thursday as well, IMD has issued an orange alert, the second highest of the four-coloured warning system, asking people to be prepared. However, relief is around the corner, as a fresh Western Disturbance (WD) will affect the region around January 16, which will change the course of cold North-Westerly winds and bring in warm and humid Easterly winds. Over the next three days, the day temperature is expected to rise to anywhere between 12degC and 15degC, while the night temperature will remain between 7degC and 10degC. Dense fog disrupted air traffic at Shaheed Bhagat Singh International Airport on Wednesday with a total of 22 flights, including 11 arrivals and 11 departures, getting cancelled due to poor visibility conditions. The cancelled departures were scheduled for Mumbai, Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Pune and Kolkata, while the cancelled arrivals were to land from Pune, Jaipur, Dharamshala, Delhi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Hyderabad....