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Delhi sees moderate fog, yellow alert issued; AQI remains ‘very poor’
Possibility of light rain and thunderstorms in isolated areas of the city, according to the India Meteorological Department
New Delhi: The capital woke up to another day of moderate fog as relatively calm winds prevailed due to a western disturbance. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for the day, with a possibility of light rain and thunderstorms in isolated areas of the city.
Zero visibility was recorded over Palam from 11:30 pm on Friday to 2.00 am on Saturday. Visibility improved to 500 metres by 7.00 am.
“The easterlies in the early hours, when visibility was zero, were blowing at 6-8 kmph. The speed of the east-southeasterlies increased to about 15-18 kmph, improving visibility,” said an IMD official.
Safdarjung, which represents Delhi’s weather, observed a minimum visibility of 50 metres between 12.20 am and 1.30 am, which improved to 200 metres by 7.30am.
According to the IMD classification, visibility between 500-1,000 metres is categorised as shallow fog, 200-500 metres as moderate fog, 50-200 metres as dense fog, and below 50 metres as very dense fog.
As of 9.00 am on Saturday, airport authorities reported no flight diversions or cancellations.
The minimum temperature saw a slight increase, recorded at 7.7°C compared to 6°C the previous day. The minimum on Thursday was 4.8°C. Saturday’s minimum temperature was 0.3°C above normal.
Meanwhile, data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) on Delhi’s air quality index (AQI) was not available as of 9.20 am on Friday. Story will be updated once the CPCB officials respond.
Also Read: Delhi pollution: GRAP 3 invoked as AQI drops amid dense fog
This marks the second instance this month when CPCB data was unavailable. On January 1, AQI data for Delhi and other NCR cities was inaccessible for an entire day due to a glitch in the National informatics centre’s (NIC) server following a power outage the previous day.
The 24-hour average AQI on Friday was recorded at 397 (very poor) as of 4.00 pm, according to CPCB’s national bulletin.
Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System (EWS) for Delhi indicate that the AQI is expected to remain in the ‘very poor’ category until Saturday, before improving to the ‘poor’ range on Sunday and Monday, aided by light rain in the city.
