IMD predicts cold wave, fog in Delhi from Friday as AQI firms up in ‘very poor’ category

Why it matters

Palam also recorded 500-metre visibility from 9:30 PM on December 31 to 8:00 AM on Thursday, which improved to 600 metres by 8:30 AM.

Key takeaways

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Thursday forecast likely cold wave conditions at isolated places in Delhi between January 2 and 5 as chilly weather in the national capital continues.According to the IMD, a cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature drops 4.5-6.5 degrees Celsius below the normal average temperature.The maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded two notches below normal at 17.3 degrees Celsius on Thursday, while the minimum settled at 10.6 degrees Celsius, 3.7 notches above normal, the IMD said.
• Such conditions are likely to continue.The cold wave prediction has also been issued for Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana till January 5.Delhi recorded its coldest December day in six years on Wednesday, ending 2025 on a biting note as the maximum temperature plunged to 14.2 degrees Celsius, about 6.2 degrees below normal.The IMD data showed that the last time the city recorded a lower maximum temperature was on December 31, 2019, when the day’s maximum dipped to 9.4 degrees Celsius.The IMD has forecast a partly cloudy sky in Delhi, with moderate fog at many places and dense fog at a few places during the morning hours.The maximum temperature is likely to be in the range of 16 to 18 degrees Celsius, and the minimum between 8 and 10 degrees Celsius.On the pollution front, Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) remained in the ‘very poor’ category, with the 24-hour average recorded at 380, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).The CPCB’s SAMEER app showed that 26 monitoring stations were in the ‘very poor’ zone and 11 in the ‘severe’ category, with Anand Vihar recording the worst AQI at 423.Officials attributed the poor air quality to an unfavourable ventilation index of less than 6,000 square metres per second and low wind speeds, which are not conducive to the dispersion of pollutants.
• The weather office also predicted that a layer of dense to very dense fog is likely to continue through the night and morning hours in Delhi till January 6.The visibility remained poor in several areas on Thursday, with Safdarjung reporting the lowest at 500 metres from 10:30 PM on December 31 to 8:30 AM on Thursday, which improved to 600 metres by 9:00 AM.