Delhi’s minimum temperature at 4.4°C as AQI remains ‘very poor’

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a yellow alert for the day, warning of possible moderate to dense fog in the early hours of Saturday

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 4.4°C as moderate fog enveloped parts of the national Capital on Saturday morning.

The minimum temperature is likely to be around 7-9°C by Sunday and 8-10°C by Monday. (ANI photo)

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued a yellow alert for the day, warning of possible moderate to dense fog in the early hours of Saturday.

“Palam recorded a visibility of 350m at 6:30am, due to moderate fog. Easterly winds of speed 3-4 kmph persisted in the area. In Safdarjung, the wind conditions remained calm on Saturday morning, with the visibility dropping to 250m at 7:30am,” said an IMD official.

Palam’s visibility improved to 500m by 9am. Safdarjung’s visibility, however, dropped further and was logged at 200m at 9:10am.

IMD classifies it as a shallow fog when visibility is between 500m and 1000m, moderate when it is between 200m and 500m, dense fog when visibility ranges from 50m to 200m, and very dense fog when visibility falls below 50m.

The fog also led to delays of over 170 flights. According to data from the flight tracking website FlightRadar24, the Delhi airport had already seen more than 170 flight delays by Saturday morning.

Meanwhile, the minimum temperature was clocked at 4.4°C, which is 3.2°C below the normal and a 0.1°C increase from the day before. According to forecasts by the IMD, the minimum is expected to rise further in the coming days, with the warm easterlies continuing to influence the region.

The minimum temperature is likely to be around 7-9°C by Sunday and 8-10°C by Monday.

‘Very poor’ AQI

The city’s air quality, meanwhile, continued to deteriorate and was logged at 376 (very poor) at 9am, as compared to the 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 354 (very poor) recorded at 4pm on Friday, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

Forecasts by the Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi, however, suggest further deterioration of air quality throughout the day.

“The air quality is likely to be in the Severe category from Saturday to Sunday. The air quality is likely to be in the very poor category on Monday. The outlook for the subsequent six days is that the air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category,” the AQEWS bulletin said on Saturday morning.