Mercury continues to slide, minimum temperature below 10°C in Delhi

A drop in wind speed led to a deterioration in pollution, as Delhi's AQI reading crept back into the “poor” category, a day after the city had “moderate” air.

Parts of Delhi recorded “cold day” conditions on Tuesday as the city’s minimum temperature dipped below the 10-degree mark for the first time since December 26, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data revealed.

Residents enjoying the early morning chill on Tuesday. (Ajay Aggarwal/HT Photo)

However, a drop in wind speed led to a deterioration in pollution levels, as the Capital’s air quality index (AQI) reading crept back into the “poor” category, a day after the city had “moderate” air.

The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory — representative of Delhi — was 9.6 degrees Celsius (°C) on Tuesday, which was three notches below normal, and slightly below the 10.3°C recorded a day earlier. The lowest minimum in the city was 6.6°C at Ayanagar.

The maximum meanwhile was 17.7°C — slightly above the previous day’s 15°C.

Other parts of the city were much colder: the lowest maximum was 12.8°C at Pusa, followed by Narela (14.3°C), Najafgarh (14.5°C), Palam (14.9°C) and Pusa (15.3°C) — all these locations logged cold day conditions, an official said.

IMD has forecast a windy start to the year, with the city likely to record strong surface winds of speeds 25-35kmph during the day.

“We are seeing northwesterly winds, which may pick up to 25 to 35kmph during the day on Wednesday. This will ensure the maximum does not rise too much, despite sunshine. The minimum could dip further by 1-2°C,” an IMD official said.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet said weather conditions will largely remain the same on January 1, with parts of the city to see overcast skies. “We may see a change in weather from January 2 onwards as a western disturbance approaches the region. This may lead to winds slowing down,” he said.