NEW DELHI: The city’s minimum temperature dropped to the lowest of the season on Friday morning at 4.6 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was about 2.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal normal, marking the coldest morning of the season.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) noted that the temperature is expected to hover between 5 and 7 degrees Celsius on Saturday. It also forecasted moderate fog at a few places and dense fog at isolated places in the city for Saturday morning.
Some parts of Delhi, including Noida and Gurugram, witnessed rain, making the cold wave conditions stronger for the region. Safdarjung and Lodhi Road recorded trace rainfall during the past 24 hours, while Ayanagar received 0.8 mm of rainfall.
According to the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, drizzle is likely at a few places on Saturday, including Akshardham, Lodhi Road, Nehru Stadium, R K Puram, Defence Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Tughlakabad, IGNOU, Ayanagar and Deramandi. The IMD said that cold wave conditions are likely to persist over parts of north and northwest India, including Delhi-NCR, over the coming days.
Station-wise data on Friday showed that Safdarjung recorded a minimum temperature of 4.6 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees Celsius below the seasonal normal, while Palam logged 5.0 degrees Celsius, 1.5 degrees below normal. Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 5.2 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees below normal, while the Ridge station reported 5.4 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees below normal. Ayanagar was the coldest among the listed stations, with the minimum temperature dipping to 4.8 degrees Celsius, 1.2 degrees below the seasonal average.
Delhi had earlier recorded its first cold day of the season on January 6, when the maximum temperature plunged to 15.7 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees Celsius below normal, while the minimum temperature settled at 7.6 degrees Celsius. Thursday marked the third coldest morning of the season as the mercury at the city’s base station Safdarjung dipped to 5.8 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees below normal.
According to the IMD, cold day conditions are declared when the minimum temperature remains below 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature falls 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal, while cold wave conditions are declared when the minimum temperature drops by 4.5 to 6.4 notches below normal.
Meanwhile, the city’s air quality index (AQI) deteriorated, with 28 monitoring stations slipping back to the ‘very poor’ category according to the
Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). Under CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51–100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 as ‘moderate’, 201–300 as ‘poor’, 301–400 as ‘very poor’, and 401–500 as ‘severe’.
On Thursday, station-wise data showed that 22 monitoring stations were in the ‘poor’ category, while 15 stations recorded ‘very poor’ air quality.
