NEW DELHI: With most days bitterly chilly and sunless due to fog this month, Delhi experienced its coldest Jan in 21 years in terms of day temperatures. The mean maximum temperature during the month at Safdarjung was 17.9 degrees Celsius, the same as in 2015 and the lowest since 2003.
This was only the third instance in records going back 33 years that the mean maximum temperature in Jan had stayed below 18 degrees C, as per IMD data. The other two years were 2015 and 2003, when the mean was 17.6 degrees C. The normal maximum temperature in Jan is 20.1 degrees C, 2.2 degrees higher than what was recorded this month.
Very poor air quality, heavily foggy mornings and bitter cold defined Jan 2024, making this month the coldest in terms of daytime, or maximum, temperature since 2003.
The daytime temperature average this Jan was 17.9 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees below normal. The same mean maximum temperature was recorded in 2015. In 2003, though, the maximum temperature was 17.6 degrees Celsius.
This Jan was also saw the coldest minimum or night temperature since 2013. The mean minimum temperature this month was 6.43 degrees Celsius, which came with five cold days and five cold waves. This means the city saw the highest number of days with extreme weather conditions in Jan in at least a decade. Coupled with the cold came a blanket of dense fog that shrouded Delhi on most days.
India Meteorological Department’s data shows that in the last 32 years, the average maximum temperature in Jan dipped below 18 degrees Celsius only thrice. Both Jan 2024 and 2015, the mean maximum temperature of 17.9 degrees Celsius, just 0.3 degrees higher than in Jan 2003.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was 21.4 degrees, one degree below normal. This will be considered as Jan 31’s temperature as IMD maintains a record of the maximum temperature on the next day.

The Met department’s data shows that a lower average minimum temperature for Jan was recorded in 2013 when the mercury dipped to 6.1 degrees Celsius. The normal minimum temperature for Jan is 7.5 degrees Celsius.
The cold shock of Jan came after an unusually warm Dec 2023. Last month was the warmest Dec in six years with a mean maximum temperature of 24 degrees Celsius and a mean minimum of 8.6 degrees Celsius.
Jan also saw several spells of cold conditions. Safdarjung, which is the city’s base station, recorded a total of 10 extreme weather events – five “cold days” and an equal number of cold wave days – making it the highest number of such days recorded in Jan in at least 12 years. Isolated parts of Delhi saw cold day conditions for nearly 10 days.
Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist and head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre at IMD, said: “The first half of Jan was under the grip of a layer of fog and uplifted fog, resulting in cold day conditions and low day temperature. The fog spell in the region began on Dec 25 and remained either in the form of surface-level fog or uplifted fog. The city saw fog on 90% of days.”
He added: “However, after the uplifted fog dissipated in the second week of Jan, the blowing of north-westerly winds led to clear skies. It caused a dip in minimum temperature which hovered around 3-4 degrees Celsius, leading to five consecutive cold wave days from Jan 12 to 16.”
A ‘cold day’ is declared when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees and the departure of maximum temperature from normal is 4.5 degrees or above. A cold wave is when the minimum temperature is four or more notches below normal or when the minimum temperature is less than 4 degrees Celsius.