Delhi shivers through coldest November night in 3 years; AQI still in ‘very poor’ zone

Delhi winter

Delhi on Sunday recorded its coldest November night in three years, with the minimum temperature dropping to 9 degrees Celsius. The reading at Safdarjung, the city’s main weather station, was 4.5 degrees below normal for this time of the year.

The last time temperatures fell lower than this in November was on November 29, 2022, when the minimum touched 7.3°C. Despite the sharp dip, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has not yet declared a cold wave.

Under IMD rules, a cold wave is announced when the minimum temperature falls below 10°C and the departure from normal is 4.5°C or more, and when at least two stations meet this condition for two consecutive days.

On Sunday, both Safdarjung and Ridge met these parameters. Ridge recorded a minimum of 9.7°C, which was 5.7 degrees below normal. “If the same conditions are recorded again on Monday, we will issue a cold wave declaration,” an IMD official was quoted by TOI as saying.

What is behind the temperature drop

Delhi has not seen a cold wave in November since 2020, as per IMD. Safdarjung recorded four cold-wave days in November 2020, but none between 2021 and 2024. In the capital, cold waves usually occur in December and January, when winter is at its peak.

According to the meteorologists, the current dip in temperature is mainly due to clear skies and cold north-westerly winds blowing from the Himalayas for the last few days. “With no cloud cover, day heat escapes quickly at night, causing temperatures to fall sharply,” an IMD official explained.

The IMD has forecast further cooling in the coming days. On Monday, the minimum is expected to drop to around 8°C. For the next five days, temperatures may remain 1.6 to 5 degrees below normal, the department said.

Recent IMD data highlights similar lows in previous years, 9.5°C on November 29, 2024, and 9.2°C on November 23, 2023. The maximum temperature on Sunday stood at 27.5°C, a degree below normal, and is expected to dip slightly, settling around 24-26°C on Monday and 23-25°C on Tuesday.

Air quality remains ‘very poor’

Alongside the cold spell, Delhi woke up to a thick layer of smog on Monday. The air quality continued in the ‘very poor’ category, with an overall AQI of 360 at 6.05 am. Six monitoring stations even reported ‘severe’ air quality levels.

On Sunday, the city recorded a 24-hour average AQI of 377, leaving residents struggling with both cold weather and hazardous air.