Mercury may fall below 8°C this week, says IMD
NEW DELHI: The minimum temperature in Delhi remained below the 10-degree mark for the third consecutive day on Sunday, with the weather department predicting even colder nights this week.
On Sunday, Safdarjung station, considered representative of Delhi’s weather, recorded a minimum temperature of 9.6 degrees Celsius– three below normal for this time of the year.
Delhi recorded a low of 9.0 degrees Celsius on Saturday, the lowest so far this winter.
Forecasts from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) show that Delhi’s minimum will remain below 10°C for the next six days too, dipping to a low of 8°C by November 25, as cold northwesterly winds continue to blow towards Delhincr.
The low temperature also led to Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) deteriorating to the ‘very poor’ category, after six straight days of ‘poor’ air.
Delhi’s AQI on Sunday was 314, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin, released at 4pm.
The AQI on Saturday was 280 (poor) in comparison. Delhi last had ‘very poor’ AQI on November 13, when it was 303.
CPCB classifies an AQI between 0-50 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’.
“With low temperatures, there is stagnation in the atmosphere and wind speeds become calm towards the night. With mercury expected to remain low, the AQI could now remain in the lower end of the ‘very poor’ category,” said Gufran Beig, founder project director at the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar).
According to Safar, the contribution of farm fires to Delhi’s PM 2.5 concentration was 10% on Sunday, down from a contribution of 14% on Saturday.