Delhi remained in the grip of intense winter conditions on Thursday, with the national capital recording its coldest night in three years. The minimum temperature dipped to 2.9°C, driven by icy northwesterly winds and dense fog, extending coldwave conditions into the fifth successive day.
According to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Thursday’s minimum temperature was 4.5 degrees below normal for this time of year. The mercury has already been sliding this week - 3.8°C on Wednesday and 3°C on Tuesday. The last cold night in Delhi was recorded on January 18, 2023, when temperatures fell to 2.6°C.
Palam sees lowest temperature in two decades
It was colder on the outskirts of the city. The minimum temperature in Palam was 2.3°C, five degrees below normal and the lowest in January in almost 20 years. Its all-time low stands at 0.3°C, recorded on January 8, 2006.
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Other stations also recorded very low temperatures: Ayanagar had 2.7°C, Lodhi Road 3.4°C and Ridge 4.5°C. Several monitoring stations experienced coldwave conditions. Isolated pockets of the city are likely to have similar conditions on Friday, too, said IMD officials.
Dense fog disrupts flights and trains
Dense fog sharply dropped visibility levels across the city. At Palam, visibility dropped to 50 metres between 6 am and 9 am, while Safdarjung recorded a minimum visibility of 100 metres around 6 am.
Fog directly affected transport. According to data from Flightradar24, more than 500 flights at Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport were running late, with an average departure delay of 32 minutes in departure. More than 50 trains were reported running late by Northern Railways.
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Relief likely over the weekend
IMD has issued a yellow alert for Friday, while the minimum temperatures would rise gradually by 4-6 °C, and further improvement is likely over the weekend as warmer winds are blowing ahead of an approaching western disturbance.
Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet, said that minimum temperatures are likely to rise steadily from Friday, with a more active western disturbance possibly bringing rain to the plains around January 22 or 23.
