Delhi sees lowest minimum; air drops to “poor”

The maximum temperature, however, rose slightly on the day, to 25.4°C from 25.1°C a day before, which was also a notch above the normal for this time of the year.

The Delhi winter continued to intensify on Saturday as the Capital recorded a seasonal-low minimum temperature for the second day in a row, clocking 7.1 degrees Celsius (°C), which was three notches below normal for this time of the year. On Friday, Delhi clocked a previous seasonal low of 8.5°C.

A child going to school on a cold morning at RK Puram on Saturday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The air quality index (AQI) of the Capital, meanwhile, declined to the “poor” category of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB’s) classification, with a reading of 233 at 4pm on Saturday, up from 197 (“moderate”) clocked a day before.

The maximum temperature, however, rose slightly on the day, to 25.4°C from 25.1°C a day before, which was also a notch above the normal for this time of the year.

Forecasts by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted the city to experience shallow fog in the morning, followed by a cloudy sky and drizzle on Sunday due to influence of a western disturbance. Also, the temperature is expected to rise marginally and dip again from the next week.

“We have been observing clear skies. When there are no clouds or layers of fog, more heat reaches the earth’s surface. However, at night, more heat escapes as well, leading to a dip in the minimum,” an IMD official said.

The IMD official said, “Under the influence of a western disturbance, light or moderate rainfall and snowfall is likely over western Himalayan region during December 9 to 11, and light isolated rainfall over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh on Sunday is possible. There is a possibility of light rain or drizzle in Delhi on Sunday as well. There might be some mist in the night too.”

According to the forecast, the maximum temperature will stay around 24°C on Sunday and see a further dip to 23°C by Monday. The minimum too is expected to hover around 8°C on Sunday and then dip further.

AQI may worsen

The rise in AQI level in the Capital has been attributed to the drop in wind speed, which was recorded at 7-8kmph. The wind brought down the dispersal of pollutants in the air. The city’s 24-hour average AQI was at 233 on Saturday as against 197 -- in the “moderate” category on Friday, as per Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily bulletin.

So far, Delhi has recorded four “poor” air days this month from December 1 to 3 and December 7, followed by three “moderate” air days till Friday. According to forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi, the air quality is expected to stay “poor” for the next couple of days.

“The air quality is likely to be in poor category from Sunday to (next) Monday. The outlook for subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in very poor to poor category,” the AQEWS bulletin stated on Friday evening.

The CPCB classifies AQI between 0 and 50 as “good”, between 51 and 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor”, and over 400 as “severe”.