A warmer Friday morning for Delhi, increase in wind speed improves air quality

The western disturbance on January 6-7 will induce rain and snow in the Western Himalayan Region, which will show its impact on Delhi as well, the weather department said.

After a long spell of cold mornings, Delhi woke up to a relatively warmer one on Friday. At 6.10 am, the minimum temperature was 8.2 degrees Celsius. The normal for this time of the year is 7 degrees Celsius.

A view of India Gate on a sunny Thursday, at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi. (Amal KS/HT Photo)

The fog too was ‘moderate’ in the city reducing the visibility to less than 300 metres. At least 19 trains are, however, running late due to low visibility in the Northern Railway region.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), temperatures have increased by 3-4 degree Celsius over most parts of Uttar Pradesh, east Rajasthan and at isolated places over Haryana, Delhi, Punjab, and west Madhya Pradesh.

The night (minimum) temperature rose because of a western disturbance approaching Delhi, which will bring clouds, said IMD.

“Both day and night temperatures will rise on Friday as well because of the ongoing western disturbance and prevailing easterly winds. The temperatures will remain similar till January 6-7, as another western disturbance is expected around that time,” said a senior IMD scientist.

The western disturbance on January 6-7 will induce rain and snow in the Western Himalayan Region, which will show its impact on Delhi as well, the scientist further said.

After a record 18-day-long cold spell in December, the city saw a relatively warm day on Thursday with the maximum temperature settling at 23 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal. The minimum temperature, however, remained low at 4.6 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

Meanwhile, air quality improved to ‘very poor’ zone after remaining in ‘severe’ for two consecutive days. The air quality index (AQI) at 8 am on Friday was 389, as against the overall AQI of 417 the previous day.

The IMD said that air quality is likely to improve from now on because of slight increase in wind speed and enough sunlight.