Delhi Gets Colder: Minimum Temperature Drops to 4.2°C, New Season Record

Delhi on Saturday broke its own record for the lowest minimum temperature this winter, a day after setting the previous mark, as the mercury dipped to 4.2 degrees Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Safdarjung station, which is considered representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded the minimum temperature at 4.2 degrees Celsius—2.7 degrees below normal—according to data on the weather department’s website.

On Friday, the capital had logged a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest of the season at the time, a record that was surpassed within 24 hours. Parts of Delhi and adjoining National Capital Region (NCR) areas, including Gurugram in Haryana and Noida and Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, also witnessed rainfall on Friday.

What’s causing the temperature drop in Delhi?

Saturday’s reading is also the lowest for January in the past two years. The city had last recorded a lower minimum temperature—3.5 degrees Celsius—on January 16, 2024, according to IMD data.

Dense fog and cold northwesterly winds are being cited as the main factors behind the sharp fall in temperatures and the prolonged cold spell across Delhi-NCR, IMD officials have said.

The minimum temperature had stood at 5.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday and 8.6 degrees Celsius the day before that, highlighting the rapid drop over the past few days.

Navdeep Dahiya, an amateur weatherman, earlier said no western disturbance is expected until January 15. “For Delhi, till January 15, the maximum temperature can hover between 12 and 15 degrees Celsius at Safdarjung and 10 to 14 degrees Celsius at Palam. The minimum should fall to around 3–4 degrees Celsius,” he said.

The cold wave has also pushed up electricity consumption. Increased use of heating appliances led Delhi to record a power demand of 6,087 MW—the highest ever and the first time demand crossed the 6,000 MW mark during the winter period (November to March), according to distribution company data cited in earlier reports.