At bone-chilling 9.6°C, Ludhiana breaches 47-yr record

Registering a dip of 1.4°C, the minimum temperature settled at 5°C; cold wave to intensify

The city’s mercury is plunging deeper with each passing day, with the minimum temperature plummeting to single digits on Wednesday.

Girls wearing thick jackets amid the dense winter fog at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, on Wednesday. (Gurpreet Singh/HT)

As per Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), the maximum temperature in the city was 9.6°C, 10 notches below the normal temperature.

Registering a dip of 1.4°C, the minimum temperature settled at 5°C. As per Dr Prabhjyot Kaur Sidhu, head department of climate change and agricultural meteorology, it was the lowest recorded temperature for December 16 (Wednesday) since the observatory was set up in 1970.

The historical low, surpassed the dip in mercury to 10.8°C on December 16, 1973, said Dr Sidhu, adding that the fog had contributed to the dense fog.

FURTHER DIP IN MERCURY PREDICTED BY MET

PAU meteorological expert Dr KK Gill said the cold wave was intensifying in the plains due to the lower pressure and the temperature may plummet further in the coming days.

She said that in the coming days the maximum temperature will remain around 16 to 17°C, while the minimum temperature will hover between 4 to 6°C.

LOW VISIBILITY AS FOG ENVELOPS CITY

Fog enveloped the district on Wednesday, reducing the visibility to a few metres.

As per Sahnewal Airport director SK Saran, the visibility tunneled down to a few meters in the morning but it improved as the day progressed. By 3.30pm the visibility was 1,500 meters, said Saran.

For the last two days, the temperature in the district had plummetted below Shimla.