Unusually warm Jan stokes climate change concerns in city

Ludhiana: Light spring jackets, t-shirts and warm sunshine. There was nothing about Jan to suggest that it was Jan. What should have been peak winter looked and felt more like peak of spring, stoking concerns about climate change. Average day temperature here in Jan was the highest in the last six years, while average minimum temperature was highest in the last three years.That's not all, the latest report by the Met department indicates that the highest maximum temperature in Jan was the highest in the last seven years.
According to the Met department report for Jan, average maximum (day) temperature in Ludhiana in 2025 was 19 degrees Celsius. The last time average maximum temperature in Jan was more than this level was in 2019, when it was 19.3 degrees Celsius. However, in the last 10 years, average maximum temperature in Ludhiana was the highest in Jan 2018, when it was 19.8 degrees Celsius.
The Met department report for Jan suggests that average minimum (day) temperature in Ludhiana in 2025 was 8 degrees Celsius. The last time this level was exceeded in 2022, when minimum temperature was 9 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, highest day temperature in Ludhiana in Jan, 2025, was 24.2 degrees Celsius. This level was exceeded in 2018, when highest day temperature reached 24.6 degrees Celsius. Lowest minimum (night) temperature in Ludhiana in Jan was 4 degrees Celsius in 2025. The last time lowest temperature was higher than the present value was in 2022, when it was recorded at 5.5 degrees Celsius.
Among cities of Punjab, average maximum temperature in Jan 2025 was highest in Patiala at 19.1, followed by Ludhiana at 19. Average minimum temperature in Jan 2025 was lowest in Amritsar at 6.4 degrees Celsius, followed by Patiala at 7.8 degrees.
Director, meteorological department, Chandigarh, Surinder Paul, attributed the average temperature to climate change. Besides, he said, western disturbances this Jan were both weak and delayed, causing temperature to be on the higher side. He also said that there were fewer foggy days and there was an impact of changed wind direction on the temperature.
Meanwhile, environment activists are not happy with developments on the weather front. Activist Colonel C M Lakhanpal (retired) said that such temperature trends did not augur well for people. He added that environmental resources, including forests, needed to be protected and pollution levels needed to be checked, failing which people would face a lot of trouble. "We suspect that summers will be tough this year," said the environment activist.
MSID:: 117827675 413 |