City records coldest December day as first cold wave hits

Delhi experienced its first cold wave of the season on Saturday, recording its coldest December day this year as the maximum temperature plunged to 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.3 notches below normal. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), for the first time this winter, Delhi met the ‘cold wave day’ criteria, with two of its five monitoring stations — “Safdarjung and Palam” recording cold wave conditions.

While the Safdarjung station recorded a maximum temperature of 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.3 degrees below the season’s normal, Palam, another key monitoring station, recorded a high of 16.3 degrees Celsius, 5.6 notches below normal. The sun remained largely obscured by thick clouds and a persistent grey haze throughout the day.

The forecast for the city has been attributed to unfavourable meteorological conditions, with wind speeds below 10 kilometres per hour, conditions that are not conducive to the dispersion of pollutants. Several parts of the national Capital were seen enveloped in dense smog and fog during the early morning hours, leading to poor visibility, a situation that had been forecast by the IMD a day earlier, with the city under the orange alert. The IMD declares cold wave conditions when the negative departure from the normal maximum temperature ranges between 4.5 and 6.4 degrees Celsius.

In comparison, the lowest maximum temperature recorded in December 2024 was 14.6 degrees Celsius, 15.9 degrees in 2023, and 15.6 degrees in 2022, according to IMD data. Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was recorded at 6.1 degrees Celsius, two notches below normal, the IMD said. Visibility was severely affected on Saturday morning. The visibility recorded at Safdarjung at 8.30 am was 200 metres and at Palam, 350 metres. It later improved to 400 metres in Safdarjung and 600 metres in Palam at 12.30 pm. Shallow to moderate fog hovered over most parts of the city throughout the day, with visibility ranging between 400 and 600 metres till 12.30 pm.

The weather department has predicted dense to very dense fog on Sunday and issued an orange alert for the national Capital. The maximum and minimum temperatures are expected to settle around 23 degrees Celsius and 9 degrees Celsius, respectively. As the year draws to a close, mercury hovered around its wintry lows and normal life was affected across northern states due to foggy conditions, with red alert warning issued in Uttar Pradesh on Saturday.

The hilly state and UT of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir are set to witness a spell of wet weather, with predictions of rain and snow at several places, according to the weather departments.

A day ahead of the onset of the ‘Chillai-Kalan’ — the 40-day harsh winter period in Kashmir — the local meteorological department on Saturday forecast moderate to heavy snowfall in the higher reaches.  Chillai Kalan begins on December 21 every year and ends on January 31. The valley has not witnessed any major wet spell so far this winter. The dry weather has led to an increase in ailments such as cough and the common cold.