Delhi recorded its coldest January morning in three years on Tuesday, with the minimum temperature dropping to 3 degrees Celsius, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
The last time the capital saw a lower January minimum was on January 16, 2023, when the temperature dipped to 1.4 degrees Celsius.
Safdarjung, Delhi’s primary weather station, logged a minimum of 3 degrees Celsius, around 4.4 degrees below the seasonal average. Palam recorded 4 degrees Celsius, 3.3 notches below normal, while Lodhi Road saw a low of 3 degrees Celsius, three degrees below average.
According to the IMD, cold wave conditions are declared when minimum temperatures fall 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below normal.
The department said cold wave conditions are likely to persist over Delhi on Wednesday as well. The maximum temperature for the day is expected to hover around 20 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality deteriorated to the ‘very poor’ category, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) recorded at 337, Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data showed.
The CPCB’s SAMEER app indicated that 29 monitoring stations reported ‘very poor’ air quality, nine were in the ‘poor’ category and one slipped into ‘severe’. Anand Vihar recorded the worst air quality with an AQI of 411.
The cold conditions followed an intense chill a day earlier, when several parts of Delhi recorded their lowest temperatures of the season.
Severe cold wave grips Punjab and Haryana
Punjab and Haryana also reeled under severe cold conditions, with Chandigarh recording its coldest night of the season at 2.8 degrees Celsius, the lowest in nine years, weather officials said.
Chandigarh had earlier recorded minimum temperatures of 2.4 degrees Celsius on January 11, 2017, and 2.1 degrees Celsius on January 24, 2016.
Several parts of Punjab saw near-freezing conditions. Ballowal Saunkhri in SBS Nagar recorded 0 degrees Celsius, while Bathinda registered 1.6 degrees. Ludhiana, Patiala and Amritsar recorded minimum temperatures of 2.6 degrees, 3 degrees and 4.1 degrees Celsius, respectively. Faridkot and Hoshiarpur recorded lows of 2 degrees and 2.6 degrees Celsius.
In Haryana, Hisar and Narnaul recorded minimum temperatures of 1.5 degrees and 1.8 degrees Celsius, respectively. Gurugram, which had dipped to 0.6 degrees Celsius a day earlier, recorded a minimum of 3.3 degrees on Tuesday.
Karnal registered a low of 2 degrees Celsius, Rohtak 3.8 degrees, Ambala 4.2 degrees and Faridabad 4.3 degrees Celsius.