Delhi to experience relatively clear sky today; AQI in ‘poor’ category

As per the IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum temperature is expected to stay around 27 degrees Celsius

The minimum temperature in Delhi is likely to hover around 8 degrees Celsius with a clear sky on Friday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is expected to stay between 8°C and 9°C till the end of the month.

Vehicles drive through heavy smog in New Delhi. (AFP FIle Photo)

As per the IMD’s weekly forecast, the maximum temperature is expected to stay around 27 degrees Celsius.

Delhi on Thursday clocked a minimum temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius – three degrees lower than the normal for this time of the year, and the seventh straight day that the minimum was below the 10-degree mark.

Weather experts attributed the cold spell to strong northwesterly winds. “In the first half of the month, the minimum temperature was largely around the normal mark and it went above the normal in the second week of the month due to a western disturbance. However, in the second half of the month, the impact of western disturbances has been minimal and therefore, cold northwesterly winds have been more prominent, leading to a drop in temperature at night,” IMD scientist RK Jenamani said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the hourly air quality index (AQI) was 269 at 8 am on Friday, up from 213 on Thursday. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.

The Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi, a forecasting model developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) to be used by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), has predicted that the AQI is likely to deteriorate to the ‘very poor’ category on Friday.