IMD issues cold wave warning for parts of North and Central India; Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan affected

For portions of northern and central India, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a cold wave warning on Tuesday. The weather advisory is issued at a time when temperatures are already falling to new lows in numerous parts of the North and Himalayan states.

The weather agency stated in its advisory that from January 7 to January 9, cold wave conditions were highly likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Odisha. Additionally, this week will see cold wave conditions across Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Jharkhand, and Chhattisgarh.

The IMD said “cold day conditions” were likely over “Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh on January 6 and 7; Delhi, West Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on January 6; East Rajasthan, West Bengal & Sikkim during January 6 -8; Jharkhand on January 6, 2026. Dense to very dense fog conditions very likely to prevail in morning hours in some parts over Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh during January 7-9 and Dense fog in isolated pockets for subsequent 4 days.”

In Jharkhand, where a cold wave alarm has been issued, temperatures plummeted below 10 degrees Celsius in ten districts on Tuesday, according to officials quoted by PTI. Garhwa, Palamu, Latehar, Lohardaga, Gumla, and Chatra are among the districts in Jharkhand where a ‘yellow’ alert has been issued, with cold wave conditions expected to last until January 7. According to the IMD, Kolkata, the capital of adjoining West Bengal, had its coldest January day of 10.2 degrees Celsius. The meteorological service forecast predicted that chill would intensify across southern West Bengal over next couple of days.

According to PTI statistics, Kolkata’s January minimum temperature has only dropped below 11 degrees Celsius once in the past 15 years, in 2023, when it reached 10.9 degrees Celsius.