On Friday, Delhi experienced the coldest dawn of the season so far, with the minimum temperature dropping to 9.5 degrees Celsius, while the Air Quality Index (AQI) stayed in the ‘ very poor’ category (329) for the sixth consecutive day.
The Safdarjung Observatory, the national capital’s official weather station, recorded the lowest temperature of 9.5 degrees Celsius, which is somewhat below usual. This is the first time the temperature has gone below 10 degrees this season.
Other meteorological stations in Delhi reported minimum temperatures lower than those recorded in Safdarjung. Ayanagar recorded the coldest morning of the season, with a minimum temperature of 8.1 degrees Celsius. Lodhi Road and Pusa experienced minimum temperatures of 8.6 degrees Celsius, while the mercury in Narela reached 9.2 degrees.
The current cold period began on November 25, and temperatures have steadily dropped throughout the last few days. Over the last four days, the minimum temperature at Safdarjung station has dropped by 4.5 degrees Celsius. This contrasted with October and the first week of November, when temperatures were above average and the weather was abnormally warm.
On Thursday, Delhi experienced the coldest morning of the season, with a minimum temperature of 10.1 degrees Celsius at the Safdarjung Observatory, 0.2 notches below usual.
‘VERY POOR’ AIR QUALITY
The national capital likewise battled pollution, with an AQI of 329. According to the Sameer app, which offers hourly data, two monitoring stations, Bawana (426) and Mundka (408), recorded air quality in the severe’ category, while 22 stations stayed in the very poor’ category, and the rest fell into the ‘poor’ category.
An AQI of 301 to 400 is considered ‘ very poor’, while values beyond 400 are considered ‘ severe’. An AQI of 0 to 50 is regarded as ‘good’, 51-100’satisfactory’, 101-200’moderate’, 201-300 as ‘poor’, 301-400’very poor’, 401-450’severe’, and 450 or higher as severe plus’. Yesterday, the national capital had an AQI of 303 (‘extremely poor’).