Bone-chilling cold gripped the national capital on Thursday as Delhi recorded its coldest morning of the season, with temperatures dipping sharply across all weather stations. Safdarjung, the city’s primary weather observatory, logged a minimum temperature of 2.9 degrees Celsius, marking the lowest January minimum recorded there since 2023.
The mercury had fallen even further on January 16, 2023, when the minimum temperature touched 1.4 degrees Celsius.
Other parts of the city also witnessed severe cold conditions. Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 2.3 degrees Celsius, while Lodhi Road saw the mercury settle at 3.4 degrees Celsius. The Ridge station reported a low of 4.5 degrees Celsius, and Ayanagar recorded 2.7 degrees Celsius.
At Palam, Thursday’s minimum temperature was the lowest recorded since 2010. The second-lowest minimum there was logged on January 7, 2013, when temperatures dipped to 2.6 degrees Celsius.
Meteorological data showed that all weather stations in Delhi recorded temperatures significantly below normal, indicating the continued grip of cold wave conditions across the city. The national capital has been reeling under cold wave conditions for the past four days, with similar conditions expected to persist on Friday as well.
The maximum temperature on Thursday is likely to hover around 21 degrees Celsius.
Meanwhile, Delhi’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category. The Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 349, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
As per CPCB standards, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 ‘poor’, 301 to 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 ‘severe’.