LAHORE: With the cloud cover disappearing, the minimum temperature in the city dipped by four degrees Celsius — from 7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday to 3 degrees Celsius on Wednesday — and the low mercury trend is now expected to hold through January, as per the Met Office forecast.

Even the maximum temperature was recorded at 12 degrees Celsius, providing no relief to the city dwellers from the cold spell.

“After recent brief spell of rain, the suspended moisture in the air has now been caught by the cold wave, pushing the temperatures further down,” explains an official of the meteorological department.

It does not go down exceptionally as long as cloud cover stays, he says. However, with clouds fizzling out, the temperatures are down, he adds.

“In some of the Punjab cities, it [temperature] went down to even one degree Celsius. It is a normal trend, starting the winter cycle and there does not seem to be any break now for the next few weeks,” he says.

“The bite in the cold is also caused by dense fog cover in the morning and evening. It was so thick in the city on Wednesday morning that it reduced visibility to just 100 meters. The situation was even worse in Faisalabad, where it dropped to 50 metres. The fog cover may become a bit thinner in the next four to five days, it would, however, persist for the next three to four weeks.”

Meanwhile, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the city also stayed unhealthy at 223, as wind speed came to nil and all pollutants remained suspended in the air, causing alert for the already unwell and breathing issues for even healthy individuals.

“The Air Quality Index of the city is almost constant throughout the year and becomes perceptible with fluctuation in temperature. With wind speed recorded zero on Wednesday, it was bound to deteriorate and raise further alarm,” says an official of the Punjab Environment Department.

The situation will persist as long as wind does not start blowing across the city and it does not rain to refresh the city weather, he says.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2020