The chill is on: Delhi minimum temperature drops below 5°C

Delhi's winter on Friday entered its business end, suggesting it was time to pull out the thick quilts, dust off the mittens, and crank up the heater.

- Jasjeev Gandhiok

The minimum temperature plunged below 5°C, chillier than Shimla, Dalhousie or Dharamshala, as icy winds wrapped the Capital in a frosty embrace.

The mercury dropped sharply to 4.9°C, four degrees below normal and nearly a degree-and-a-half lower than Thursday. This is only the second time the temperature has dropped below the 5°C threshold this early in the winter in at least a decade. In 2020, the minimum was 4.1°C on December 15. Friday was also Delhi's coldest December day since New Year's Eve on 2021, when the mercury was 3.8°C. The temperature did not dip below 5°C at all last December, plateauing at 6°C on December 26.

Friday's temperatures bucked forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which on Thursday said the day's low would remain around 6°C. The mercury has plunged sharply over the past week, dipping from 9.4°C on December 8 to 8.5°C the next day, then 8.3°C on December 10 and 6.5°C the day after that. It was 6.8°C on December 12