Mercury stays below 7°C for 2nd day in Delhi, pollution levels worsen

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8°C on Tuesday, largely unchanged from 6.5°C a day ago and two degrees below normal, according to IMD.

The minimum temperature in Delhi stayed below 7°C for the second straight day on Tuesday, as persistently cool winds swept through the Capital and kept the city chillier than normal.

IMD officials said cold northwesterly winds will persist for the next three days, with the minimum temperature expected to hover around 6-7°C in this time. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 6.8°C on Tuesday, largely unchanged from 6.5°C a day ago and two degrees below normal, according to data from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The city’s night-time temperatures have dipped sharply since Friday, when the minimum was 9.2°C. This dipped to 8.5°C on Saturday and 8.3°C on Sunday. IMD officials said cold northwesterly winds will persist for the next three days, with the minimum temperature expected to hover around 6-7°C in this time.

Meanwhile, the maximum temperature increased slightly to 24.8°C on Tuesday, from 23.4°C on Sunday. According to IMD, this is expected to remain around 25°C for a day or two, before dipping to between 23°C and 24°C during the latter half of the week.

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However, the city’s pollution levels on Tuesday worsened amid the falling temperature, with a 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) of 355 (very poor) at 4pm said officials. The AQI was 317 on Monday.

“There are cool northwesterly winds as of now that will continue for the next few days and are leading to reduced temperature. The minimum temperature will continue to drop over the next few days,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at IMD.

Forecasts by the Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi predicted no significant change in air quality in the coming days.

“Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in the ‘very poor’ category from December 12 till 14. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows the air quality is likely to be between the ‘very poor’ and ‘poor’ category,” said the system. It added that the predominant winds would be between speeds 4 and 9kmph.