Delhi gets its first cold wave, maximum temperature plunges to 16.9 degrees

Cattle cross a road amid dense fog on a winter morning, at Mayur Vihar area, in New Delhi, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. Visibility plunged across parts of Delhi on Saturday morning, with buildings and flyovers fading into a grey blur amid dense fog, as the capital's AQI edged closer to the severe category at 384. (PTI)

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.

The sun remained largely obscured by thick clouds and a persistent grey haze throughout the day.

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, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

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 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.