At 13.7°C, Tuesday was coldest Oct morning in Delhi in 11 years: IMD

The minimum temperature at IMD's Safdarjung observatory, which is representative of the city’s weather, dipped to 13.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, four degrees below the season’s normal. The maximum temperature was recorded at 33.8 degrees Celsius.

Delhi on Tuesday recorded the lowest minimum temperature in over a decade in the month of October, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. The overall air quality index (AQI) settled at 223, at the lower end of the ‘poor’ zone.

Morning haze envelops the skyline on the outskirts of New Delhi. (AP)

The minimum temperature at IMD's Safdarjung observatory, which is representative of the city’s weather, dipped to 13.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, four degrees below the season’s normal. The maximum temperature was recorded at 33.8 degrees Celsius.

Before this, the lowest minimum temperature in this month was recorded at the Safdarjung observatory in 2009, on October 26 and October 28, when the mercury plummeted to 13.5 degrees Celsius, Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional weather forecasting centre, said.

In the Palam observatory, the maximum temperature was recorded at 33.3 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature was 17.1 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season’s normal.

Senior IMD scientists said that high wind speed blowing from the north-west was the primary reason behind the dip in the minimum temperature on Tuesday. In the coming days too, the night time temperature is expected to remain around 14 degrees Celsius.

“On Tuesday, the wind speed remained high; around 15-16kmph, from the north-westerly direction. The northern component in the wind usually lowers the minimum temperature,” Srivastava said.

Srivastava said while the AQI is likely to remain in the same range on Wednesday, the wind direction over Delhi is likely to change to north-easterly from Thursday. The change in direction is likely to reduce wind speed and deteriorate air quality.

VK Soni, head of the environment monitoring research centre of IMD, said the air quality is expected to deteriorate marginally from October 22, but no major variations is being forecasted.

Data collated by IMD over the last 30 years shows the average normal minimum temperature between October 18 and 22 generally is 18.1 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, the air quality continued to improve through Tuesday with the AQI settling at 223, categorised in the lower end of the ‘poor’ zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) recordings. On Monday, the overall AQI of the city was 244.

Union ministry of earth sciences’ System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) recordings showed that the share of stubble burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana on PM 2.5 (particulate matter with diameter less than 2.5 micrometers) was 8%.

“Synergised stubble burning fire counts around Haryana, Punjab, and neighbouring regions stand at 1017. The transport-level wind direction is favourable. The Safar model estimate of stubble burning share in PM2.5 is 8% for today and likely to increase by early Wednesday,” the Safar forecast said.