Winter chill eludes Assam as December, January record above-normal temperatures

Guwahati, Jan 24: This winter in the State has thrown up more signs of climate change, with the normal winter chill eluding places for more than half the season.

During December, Guwahati saw only six days with normal maximum temperatures. The mercury on 18 days was above normal (2 degrees above normal), and on one day appreciably above normal (3-4 degrees above normal).

North Lakhimpur was even worse. Temperatures in the northern Assam town were ‘appreciably above normal’ for 23 days, and above normal for seven days. Dibrugarh also saw eight days of ‘appreciably above normal’ temperature and 21 days of above normal temperature, while Dhubri experienced 15 days of ‘above normal’ temperature during the month, according to an analysis by IMD.

Minimum temperature also was ‘appreciably above normal’ for eight days in Guwahati, five days in Dibrugarh and six days in Silchar during December. No rainy days were recorded during December. As per IMD definition, rainy days are days when daily rainfall is more than 2.4 mm.

“In Guwahati, maximum temperatures remained continuously below 25 degrees Celsius during the last week of December and the first week of January, lasting about 15 consecutive days. During December 28-30, the maximum temperature did not cross 20 degrees Celsius even once,” a weather scientist said.

“This cold condition was mainly due to a persistent dense fog layer, which suppressed daytime heating. As a result, the cold feeling was there during the entire day,” the weather scientist added.

However, after that, maximum temperatures have gradually increased, ranging between 25 degrees Celsius and 28 degrees Celsius. For the past 10 consecutive days, maximum temperatures in Guwahati have been above normal by 3 degrees Celsius or more.

Minimum temperatures in Guwahati were also mostly above normal during January, with only a few occasions being near normal. Currently, minimum temperatures are around 13-14 degrees Celsius, which is about 2-5 degrees above normal, as per IMD data.

In Upper Assam, minimum temperatures have generally remained close to normal or slightly below normal this month, mostly below 10 degrees Celsius. However, similar to Guwahati, West Assam and South Assam stations are recording minimum temperatures of 12-14°C, which is above normal.

Maximum temperatures across most parts of Assam during the last one week have been in the 25-28 degrees Celsius range, about 2-4 degrees above normal.

January is climatologically a low rainfall month for Assam, with a normal rainfall of about 10 mm during 1 to 22 January for the State as a whole. Except for very light rainfall on one day, there has been no rainfall activity in January 2026 so far.