By The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday forecast cold wave conditions at isolated locations in Delhi between January 2 and January 5, as winter intensifies across the national capital. The weather department also warned that dense to very dense fog is likely to persist during night and morning hours until January 6.
According to the IMD, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature falls 4.5 to 6.5 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average. On Thursday, Delhi’s maximum temperature was recorded at 17.3 degrees Celsius, around two degrees below normal, while the minimum temperature settled at 10.6 degrees Celsius, about 3.7 degrees above normal.
Visibility remained poor across several parts of the city due to thick fog. Safdarjung recorded the lowest visibility of 500 metres from 10:30 PM on December 31 to 8:30 AM on Thursday, improving slightly to 600 metres by 9:00 AM. Similar conditions were observed at Palam, where visibility dropped to 500 metres between 9:30 PM on December 31 and 8:00 AM on Thursday, later improving to 600 metres. The IMD said such foggy conditions are likely to continue.
The cold wave warning has also been extended to parts of Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana until January 5.
Delhi records coldest December day since 2019
Delhi witnessed its coldest December day in six years on Wednesday, closing 2025 on a severe winter note. The maximum temperature plunged to 14.2 degrees Celsius, nearly 6.2 degrees below normal. IMD data shows that the last time the city recorded a lower maximum temperature was on December 31, 2019, when it dropped to 9.4 degrees Celsius.
For the coming days, the IMD has predicted partly cloudy skies, moderate fog at many locations, and dense fog at a few places during morning hours. The maximum temperature is expected to remain between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius, while the minimum may range from 8 to 10 degrees Celsius.
Delhi AQI remains ‘very poor’
On the air pollution front, Delhi’s air quality continued to deteriorate, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) staying in the ‘very poor’ category. The 24-hour average AQI stood at 380, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
Data from the CPCB’s SAMEER app showed that 26 monitoring stations reported ‘very poor’ air quality, while 11 stations were in the ‘severe’ category. Anand Vihar recorded the worst AQI at 423.
Officials attributed the worsening air quality to an unfavourable ventilation index below 6,000 square metres per second and low wind speeds, which are restricting the dispersion of pollutants over the city.
