Delhi shivers as mercury dips to 2.9°C, coldwave grips isolated pockets

The city’s air quality showed marginal improvement and remained at the higher end of the ‘poor’ category.

Published on: Jan 11, 2026, 09:54:34 IST

By Jasjeev Gandhiok

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Delhi continued to reel under biting cold on Sunday, with isolated pockets of the city recording coldwave conditions as the mercury dipped to as low as 2.9°C, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. Safdarjung, the city’s base station, recorded a minimum temperature of 4.8°C on Sunday, after logging a season’s lowest of 4.2°C a day earlier.

Vehicles commute amid smog and cold wave conditions in New Delhi. (ANI)

Other parts of the capital were colder, prompting the IMD to declare isolated coldwave conditions. Ayanagar recorded a minimum of 2.9°C, Palam 3°C and the Ridge station 3.7°C.

The IMD has forecast the continuation of coldwave conditions in the capital on Monday as well.

The weather department defines a ‘coldwave’ when the minimum temperature falls below 10°C and is 4.5°C or more below normal, or when the actual minimum temperature drops below 4°C.

“Coldwave conditions were realised over Delhi as Palam, Ridge and Ayanagar reported minimum temperatures less than 4.1°C,” said IMD scientist Krishna Mishra, adding that a yellow alert remains in place for Monday with coldwave conditions likely to persist.

On the maximum temperature front, Delhi recorded a high of 20.2°C on Saturday. However, icy winds are expected to keep the maximum temperature lower, in the range of 16–18°C on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the city’s air quality showed marginal improvement and remained at the higher end of the ‘poor’ category. The 24-hour rolling average air quality index (AQI) stood at 295 (poor) at 8am, compared with 346 (very poor) at 4pm on Saturday, as wind speeds picked up.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jasjeev Gandhiok
Jasjeev Gandhiok is an Assistant Editor with Hindustan Times, where he covers environment, climate change, the clean energy transition and wildlife at the National Bureau. Gandhiok has over a decade of experience in journalism and is based in Delhi. He has reported extensively on Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR). This includes the region's air pollution woes, a polluted Yamuna and on urban wildlife still thriving in the region. He joined HT in October 2021. Prior to that, he had five-year stint at The Times of India in Delhi, where he also covered Delhi, with a focus on environment and wildlife. Gandhiok has covered some recent events around the Capital too, ranging from the farmers' protests, the northeast Delhi riots and the CAA-NRC protests, reporting from the ground on all of these. He also travels across the country to report on how environment and climate change impact everyday life, while also writing on endangered species. His reports in 2019 on toxic leachate from Delhi's landfills led to the National Green Tribunal (NGT) taking suo motu cognisance and ultimately asking the state government to start bio-mining to flatten and remove all three landfills in the capital. He also closely tracks the implementation of government policies on climate, renewable energy and environmental protection. His focus remains on impactful, public-interest journalism which explains how environmental decisions affect people's everyday lives.Read More

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