NEW DELHI: Delhi on Saturday broke its previous record for the lowest minimum temperature this winter as the mercury dropped to 4.2 degrees Celsius, lower than Friday’s reading.
At the same time, the city’s air quality remained in the ‘very poor’ category, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recording an AQI of 346 in the evening. Under CPCB standards, an AQI between 0 and 50 is ‘good’, 51–100 ‘satisfactory’, 101–200 ‘moderate’, 201–300 ‘poor’, 301–400 ‘very poor’ and 401–500 ‘severe’.
According to the India Meteorological Department, cold wave conditions are expected at isolated places on Sunday, with moderate fog likely during the morning hours. The maximum temperature is forecast to range between 16 and 18 degrees Celsius, while the minimum is expected to be between 3 and 5 degrees Celsius.
The minimum temperature recorded on Saturday was 2.7 notches below the seasonal average, the IMD said. With this, Delhi witnessed the coldest morning of the ongoing winter season since 2024. The previous coldest January day in recent years was recorded on January 15, 2024, when the minimum temperature dropped to 3.3 degrees Celsius, triggering cold wave conditions.
Station-wise data showed that Safdarjung recorded a minimum of 4.2 degrees Celsius, Palam and Ayanagar 4.5 degrees Celsius each, Lodhi Road 4.7 degrees Celsius and the Ridge station 5.3 degrees Celsius, indicating a sharp dip across the city.
On the air quality front, 25 monitoring stations recorded ‘very poor’ AQI and 13 stations were in the ‘poor’ category on Saturday. Chandni Chowk reported the worst air quality with an AQI of 392, according to Central Pollution Control Board’s Sameer app.