Weather in January?

Golden Chapati

I'll be returning to Delhi on January 15th, spending a while and then heading down south. Can anyone advise on the weather conditions? Having been there throughout the summer, I have a hard time believing it actually gets 'cold'!

curtdfw

Evenings will be cool. A light fleece or leather jacket will be plenty.

__________________
"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" Oscar Wilde

Golden Chapati

Ah cheers, so not exactly freezing or anything? Good news.

kuldelhi

Weather in delhi remains very cold in January.Temperatue gets low to even 8 degrees below normal, so better prepare yourself with woolen clothes and jackets. But its not freezing. Bearable as compare to other destinations.

KateW

Maybe I'm too used to the climate here but later in the evening and at night it is cold, cold, cold.

I'd say much warmer clothes are needed. More so indoors than outside. Guess it depends where you are staying and how you will be travelling. An auto on a January night is a wool scarf round your head as well as a wool shawl.

curtdfw

Well, the fleece and the leather jacket were the heaviest things I owned through five winters in Delhi, and as I'm mostly from Oregon, I can't claim cold-weather immunity. Concur about indoors, though. Non-insulated cement/brick walls definitely don't have much heat retention. I have several 'winter-weight' wool kurtas from FabIndia that I wore with long-sleeved t-shirts or other inner layer to get me to the beginning of spring...

machadinha

Have a look also at this whole thread: India climate chart.

I've had it around 5C at night there in mid-Dec.-early Feb.'ish yes. That's a lot colder than you might think if you're not dressed for it.

Daytime will then be generally pleasant, maybe lower 20C (or higher 10C's even, I guess) to even lower 30C's. Not sweating your behind off for a change; still possibly meriting a shirt or light sweater, certainly once you've acclimatized some.

And then remember like anywhere the weather will vary annually or periodically too; frost in the plains while not that common is not impossible I believe. (Conversely, I've also been there in a winter that was far more balmy indeed, not asking for much more than jeans and a shirt indeed and just some of the time. You just can't tell, can you; I'd rather have something warm on me and not use it than have it the other way around though. The good news is warm stuff can be bought on the ground just as well, of course. Not so great when being caught by surprise on a moving train though.)

As some of the others have already indicated, the cold (and any dampness that may well go with it) can be much more pervasive too, because there are far fewer options to warm up than what you may be used to. Many if not most places and transport and whatnot will just not be heated. So it's not just the temps. as such which may not even be that crazily low, but it's the overall experience that makes it that much colder.

__________________
Reading tips, all picked up at IndiaMike : INDAX's A Comprehensive Guide To India / Dinoj Surendran's Desi Humor / ITHVC on Culture Shock & Travel Health / JetLag Travel Guides For the Undiscerning Traveller / India Travel Links

curtdfw

Then there's the lovely Delhi winter fog...

sa_ill

Januarys in Delhi is the reason I'm a Delhi patriot (!!) The chill, fog, the nights, just unbelievable.

Nitinthegreat

What i can say is that winter nights in Delhi in month of January are unpredictable. It might be possible that jackets will do for you but sometimes it gets so chilly, almost to freezing. so better be prepare for anything but not below freezing.

__________________
On the way to visit the whole Himalaya....

KateW

The fog!!!

The smug more like. So that's my earache, sinusitis, cough, sore eyes etc, etc.All suffered in January plus being sooo cold at home.

Now to December and Feb to March much better.

sa_ill

I think I can handle the chill (touch wood). Its just that driving around in the late nights with a couple of mates at 40-60 km/hr moderate speed, stoned outta you mind, is what makes Jan special, but thats just me!