Rise in minimum temperature gives respite from cold

Gurugram The minimum temperature continued to rise on Saturday, with a recording of 8 degrees Celsius, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, an increase from 6 degrees Celsius and 5 degrees Celsius recorded on Friday and Thursday, respectively.

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The maximum temperature on Saturday also increased, marginally, to 21.5 degrees Celsius from 21 degrees Celsius the previous day, as per IMD data.

Air quality in the city on Saturday improved to the ‘poor’ category of the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) air quality index (AQI) from the ‘very poor’ category the previous day. Saturday’s AQI reading was 298, an improvement from a reading of 318 on Friday, as per the CPCB data.

Experts said that the marginal improvement was a result of a rise in the minimum temperature. The level of finer particulate matter, having a diameter less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5), on Saturday was at a maximum of 200ug/m3 on Saturday, down from 494ug/m3 the previous day, as per the CPCB’s AQI monitor at Vikas Sadan in Sector 11.

However, the respite from the cold and ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’ pollution levels is expected to be short-lived, said experts. The IMD has predicted cold days after Sunday, with the possibility of light rain in the National Capital Region (NCR).

On Saturday, the visibility remained low in the morning hours, with the IMD’s Palam observatory recording visibility of 200 metres at 7.30am. Thick fog is expected to prevail over the next few days, as per the IMD.

“While temperatures on Sunday would likely remain almost the same as on Saturday, it is expected to get colder after. Light rain is expected on Monday and Tuesday due to a western disturbance, and the day temperature would, likely, fall by two to three degrees Celsius,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, senior scientist at the IMD, adding that towards the end of next week, minimum temperatures could drop to around 4 degrees Celsius.

Air quality is expected to be in the upper end of the ‘poor’ category on Sunday, before falling to ‘very poor’ on Monday, said experts.