Western disturbances give Delhi another windy morning, air quality ‘moderate’
On Thursday morning, winds were blowing in Delhi at a speed of 10km/hr and Met officials predicted the Capital will witness windy weather for next three-four days.
Delhi’s air quality showed marginal improvement on Thursday morning as the Capital woke up to another windy day with Met officials forecasting a partly cloudy sky.
The capital’s average air quality index (AQI) — a measure of pollutants in the air — stood at 151 at 8am, in ‘moderate’ category. On Wednesday, the average AQI was at 167, also in moderate category. The AQI is calculated on a scale of 0-500 with figures between 0-50 considered good, 51-100 satisfactory, 201-300 poor, 301-400 very poor and 401-500 severe.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast partly cloudy sky in Delhi on Thursday. Officials said that the clouds were being drawn in by western disturbances which is normal for this time of the year. Officials added that these are not rain-bearing clouds.
The western disturbances have also resulted in windy weather in the Capital with the wind speed recorded at 10km/hour on Thursday morning. Officials said the winds will remain strong in the Capital for the next three-four days.
“February is usually the cleanest month of the year. It is usually windy and after the highly polluted December and January, it comes as a relief. From March 15-16, it will again start getting more polluted because of the dry dust of the summer,” senior scientist with Delhi Pollution Control Committee MP George said.
The temperature is expected to hover between 11 and 24 degree Celsius, weather officials said. The temperature has increased by one degree since yesterday. The maximum temperature on Wednesday was 23.4 degree Celsius and the minimum temperature was 10.2 degree Celsius.