Delhi’s minimum temperature dips marginally; expect a foggy Friday

Delhi’s minimum temperature, recorded at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the official reading for the city, has been around 10-11 degree Celsius this week

Friday is expected to be a foggy day in Delhi with the minimum temperature locking at 11 degree Celsius, close to Thursday’s 11.2 degree Celsius -- which was four notches below normal. The maximum temperature is expected to be 31 degree Celsius, a little higher than Thursday’s 30.7 degree Celsius.

Vehicles ply amid hazy weather condition, in New Delhi, on November 5. (File photo)

Delhi’s minimum temperature, recorded at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the official reading for the city, has been around 10-11 degree Celsius this week.

The air quality in the national Capital was still in the very poor category on Friday morning, a day after it plunged to the severe category and the Delhi government banned firecrackers to combat pollution and the Covid-19 crisis. As per the data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the Air Quality Index value at 7am stood at 399.

Air quality enters the very poor zone between 301-400 mark and crosses over to the severe zone after exceeding 400, causing distress and respiratory illnesses, especially in children and those exposed to the bad air.

All 36 monitoring stations in Delhi recorded air quality in the “severe” category on Thursday. The AQI in Ghaziabad was 464, Greater Noida 457, Noida 450, Gurugram 443, and Faridabad 436.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that while the weather did play a spoiler for Delhi, local pollution sources also acted up, pushing pollution levels to severe category on Thursday. In a meeting with the CPCB task force, the IMD said that the primary pollutant in Delhi’s air on Thursday was PM10 (coarse particulate matter), which is primarily dust.

Stubble fires also contributed to 42% — the highest so far this season — of Delhi’s PM 2.5 load on Thursday, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (Safar) under Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

The meteorological conditions also resulted in worsening the situation since Wednesday. “There are two things that are happening together. North-westerly winds are bringing pollutants and wind speed has reduced. On Wednesday night and early morning Thursday, winds were calm so pollutants remained trapped close to the surface. After 9.30am, winds picked up for some time before calming again in the evening. We are not expecting a change in wind direction before November 10, when it may gradually shift to easterly, but during the transition of wind direction, wind speed usually falls, which can lead to further aggravation of air pollution,” explained Kuldeep Shrivastava, head, regional weather forecasting centre.