Chill grip: Ludh’s Jan 2nd coldest in 13 years

Ludhiana: This time, January in Ludhiana was one of the coldest in recent years, with the city recording the lowest "highest minimum temperature" for the month since 2014.According to the January report of the Met department, highest minimum temperature recorded in Jan 2026 was 10.4 degrees Celsius. Last time Ludhiana saw a lower figure was in Jan 2014, when highest minimum temperature had reached 10.0 degrees Celsius.The city also recorded the second-lowest average minimum temperature for Jan in 13 years. This year's average minimum temperature stood at 6.6 degrees Celsius, lower than the value recorded in Jan 2025. The only lower average minimum temperature in this period was in 2020, when it dropped to 6 degrees Celsius — itself the lowest since 2013, when it was 5.9 degrees Celsius. Among three major cities in Punjab, Ludhiana's average minimum temperature of 6.6 degrees Celsius placed it in the second position, behind Amritsar, which recorded a lower average of 5.5 degrees Celsius.Meanwhile, lowest maximum temperature recorded in Ludhiana in Jan 2026 was 10.8 degrees Celsius, which was comparatively higher than the lowest maximum temperature reported in the state's two other major cities. Amritsar registered lowest maximum temperature of 8.1 degrees Celsius, while Patiala recorded 9.6 degrees Celsius. The Met department also noted that the average maximum temperature in Ludhiana in Jan 2026 was 16.7 degrees Celsius, lower than the 19 degrees Celsius average recorded in 2025. However, the Jan 2026 average was higher than that of Jan 2024, when it was 13.4 degrees Celsius.Rainfall activity was also notable. Ludhiana recorded 52.2 mm rainfall in Jan 2026, making it the second-highest among major cities in Punjab, with Patiala receiving 54.3mm. Despite this year's rainfall, Met department data showed that Ludhiana's highest January rainfall in recent years was in 2022, when the city received 114.9mm rain.A Met official attributed the lower minimum and average minimum temperatures this year to an increased number of foggy days throughout Jan. Many residents echoed similar observations, recalling several days of severe cold, especially between Jan 10 and 20. They said fog conditions made visibility poor and the cold wave intensified during this period.Jaideep Singh, a city resident, said visibility had dropped significantly on several days between Jan 10 and 20 due to dense fog. He added that the cold wave during mid-January was intense and at times unbearable, describing the conditions as "spine-chilling."Box 1: Jan temp over the years Year | Highest min | Lowest max 2014 | 10.0 | 11.4 2015 |11.9 | 10.3 2016 |12.1 | 10.0 2017 |13.7 | 12.6 2018 |11.0 | 11.8 2019 | 11.2 | 14.2 2020 | 10.6| 12.1 2021 | 13.4 | 11.7 2022 |16.4 | 10.9 2023 | 13.2 | 9.2 2024 | 11.9 | 9.0 2025 | 13.4 | 13.2 2026 | 10.4 |10.8 Box 2: Avg min & max temperature in JanYear | Temperature 2013 | 5.9 | 17.8 2014 | 7.3 | 18.1 2015 | 7.1 | 16.1 2016 | 7.2 | 17.9 2017 | 7.8 | 19.1 2018 | 6.7 | 19.8 2019 | 6.9 | 19.3 2020 | 7.0 | 17.4 2021 | 7.3 | 17.4 2022 | 9.0 | 16.1 2023 | 7.1 | 17.0 2024 | 6.0 | 13.4 2025 | 8.0 | 19 2026 | 6.6 | 16.7 Box 5: Rainfall in Ludh in JanYear | Rainfall 2020 | 34.3 2021 | 6.8 2022 | 114.9 2023 | 17.7 2024 | 1.3 2025 | 7.3 2026 | 52.2