3rd coldest Jan 18 in 52 years as city gets colder than Shimla, Dalhousie

Ludhiana: The city’s maximum temperature was recorded at 12.2°C on Tuesday, the third time in the last 52 years where the day-time temperature has been so low on January 18. The maximum temperature was 5.5°C less than the normal on Tusday. On the same day in 1999, the day-time temperature was 11.5°C, the lowest in the last 52 years. In 2016, it was 11.8°C on January 18, the second lowerst. Even on Tuesday, the day-time temperature in Ludhiana was colder than Shimla and

Dalhousie

, where the maximum temperature was 13°C.The

Punjab Agricultural University

observatory, which is used to keep a record of the city’s weather, was set up in 1970, or 52 years ago. On Monday too, the city’s day-time temperature was 12.6°C. Prabhjot Kaur Sidhu, professor and head of department of climate change and agricultural meteorology at

PAU

, said, “In this type of weather, the days are cold while the nights aren’t as cold. Usually, the day temperature ranges from 16°C to 18°C. On the other hand, the night temperature is the normal range of 4-5°C.”Cloudy weather is not allowing sunlight to reach the surface, resulting in the intense cold wave, which is expected to persist till January 24. Meanwhile, influenced by western disturbances, cloudy weather and light rainfall are expected in the city on January 23 and 24. This is due to low pressure activity which moves from Pakistan, Afghanistan area and it influences the whole of north India.Ashok Salaria , an official from Ludhiana railway station, said, “Many trains were delayed by three to four hours due to fog at isolated places.”