Delhi Records Coldest January Morning In Three Years As Cold Wave Grips North India

Delhi shivered through its coldest January morning in three years on Tuesday, with the minimum temperature plunging to 3 degrees Celsius, as a cold wave tightened its grip across north India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

At Safdarjung, the capital’s primary weather observatory, the mercury dipped to 3 degrees Celsius—4.4 degrees below the seasonal average, marking the lowest January minimum recorded in Delhi since January 16, 2023, when temperatures had fallen to 1.4 degrees Celsius.

Other parts of the city witnessed similarly biting conditions. Palam recorded a minimum of 4 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees below normal, while Lodhi Road reported 3 degrees Celsius, three notches below average.

The Ridge saw temperatures drop to 4.4 degrees Celsius, 3.7 degrees below normal, and Ayanagar recorded a low of 3.2 degrees Celsius, nearly four degrees below the norm.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department , cold wave conditions are declared when minimum temperatures fall between 4.5 and 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal. The weather agency said the cold wave is likely to persist over Delhi on Wednesday as well, with the day’s maximum temperature expected to hover around 20 degrees Celsius.

The intense cold coincided with a deterioration in air quality across the capital. Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) slipped into the ‘very poor’ category on Tuesday, settling at 337, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

The CPCB’s SAMEER application showed that air quality at 29 monitoring stations was in the ‘very poor’ category, while one station recorded ‘severe’ air quality and nine remained in the ‘poor’ range. Anand Vihar registered the worst pollution levels, with an AQI of 411, placing it in the ‘severe’ category.

An AQI reading between 301 and 400 is classified as ‘very poor’, while levels above 400 are considered ‘severe’, according to CPCB standards.

The cold wave has also intensified across neighbouring regions. On January 12, Gurugram recorded a minimum temperature of 0.6 degrees Celsius, making it colder than hill town Shimla and marking the lowest minimum temperature in Haryana this winter, the IMD said.

An official IMD bulletin issued from Chandigarh noted that the sharp dip occurred amid an ongoing cold wave across north India, prompting the weather department to issue an orange alert for the city. Frost and dense fog further compounded the winter chill, while some social media users claimed temperatures in parts of Gurugram dropped to as low as minus one degree Celsius.

After Gurugram, Narnaul recorded the second-lowest minimum temperature in the state at 1.2 degrees Celsius, the IMD said.

(Inputs from PTI)