Chandigarh, Nov. 7 -- After rising to 16.4degC on Wednesday, the city's minimum temperature recorded a sharp drop to 12.8degC on Thursday, 1.8 degree below normal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), this was the lowest night temperature so far this season as the city gears up for winter. Speaking about this, IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul said this was expected after a Western Disturbance led to light rain in the region on Tuesday night. Even in Chandigarh, around 0.6 mm rain was recorded. Paul said cold Northwesterly winds had started blowing in the region and this will cause the temperature to fall fast in the coming days. While this is the lowest that the night temperature has gone yet, it usually goes even lower towards the end of November. Last year, it had plunged to 8.7degC on November 29. The maximum temperature, meanwhile, also fell from 29.7degC on Wednesday to 28.3degC on Thursday, going 1 degree below normal. Over the next three days, the maximum temperature will remain between 26degC and 27degC, and the minimum temperature will stay around 11degC and 12degC. Even as firecrackers were burst in the city on Gurpurb night, the air quality wasn't affected much. As per the daily Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletin released by the Central Pollution Control Board, the city recorded an AQI of 156, which is considered moderate. But Panchkula's air quality worsened, with a reading of 275, classified as poor. After above average rain in October, the same trend is likely to continue in the city in November, normally one of the driest months in the city. While the average rain for November in Chandigarh is 5.7 mm, last year no rain was recorded in the entire month. But this year, as per the Long-Range Forecast released by IMD, above average rain is expected in the whole region, including Chandigarh, confirmed IMD Chandigarh director Surender Paul. In the first week itself, the city has witnessed a Western Disturbance, normally a rare occurrence in November....