Night temps drop sharply after rain in Delhi, slight improvement in air quality

Delhi on Saturday witnessed sharp drop in temperatures and a slight improvement in air quality after the spell of rain a day ago.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Safdarjung station recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6ºC, 0.1 degrees above the season's normal, marking a sharp fall from Friday's low of 13.7ºC, which was the highest in four years.

Among the other major stations, Palam and Lodhi Road both saw minimum temperatures of 6.8ºC, while The Ridge recorded 6.6ºC and Ayanagar 6ºC, the coldest.

The air quality saw a slight improvement on Saturday morning, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 256, in the 'poor' category, against 293 on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app.

The air quality was 'poor' at 29 stations while it was 'very poor' at four stations. The AQI data for three stations were not available while writing this report. Among the stations, Dwarka recorded the lowest AQI of 113.

According to the CPCB, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 to 100 'satisfactory', 101 to 200 'moderate', 201 to 300 'poor', 301 to 400 'very poor', and 401 to 500 'severe'.

The Air Quality Early Warning System has forecast Delhi's air quality to remain in the 'poor' category for the next two days. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows that it is likely to be in the 'poor' to 'very poor' category.

According to the IMD, the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be in the ranges of 17 to 19ºC and 6 to 8ºC, respectively. The minimum temperatures will be near normal and the maximum temperatures will be 1.3 to 3.3ºC below normal, it stated.

The IMD has also predicted generally cloudy sky and shallow to moderate fog during morning hours, with strong surface winds with speeds ranging from 10-20 km per hour.