Weather Update: Shallow to dense fog covered parts of Delhi early Wednesday as the temperature dropped to 7.4 degrees Celsius. The air quality is expected to stay “poor” until Thursday and worsen to the “very poor” category by Friday. Wednesday’s minimum temperature was 0.5 degrees Celsius above normal but 2.2 degrees Celsius lower than Tuesday, when some parts of Delhi experienced “cold day” to “severe cold day” conditions. On Tuesday, the lowest maximum temperature, 12.8 degrees Celsius, was recorded at Pusa in West Delhi. However, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung, which reflects Delhi’s overall weather, did not qualify as a “cold day.” It was predicted to reach around 17 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
A “cold day” happens when the maximum temperature is 4.5 degrees Celsius or below normal, and the minimum falls below 10 degrees Celsius. A “severe cold day” is when the maximum is 6.5 degrees Celsius or below normal, with the minimum still under 10 degrees Celsius. Early morning fog reduced visibility to 100m at Palam and 700m at Safdarjung at 5:30 am on Wednesday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said surface winds of 25-35 km per hour were expected during the day, which would keep temperatures from rising much despite sunshine. The minimum temperature is predicted to drop further by 1-2 degrees Celsius in the coming days.
Delhi’s air quality worsened on Tuesday evening, falling into the “poor” category. The 24-hour average Air Quality Index was recorded at 283 at 4 pm on Tuesday, compared to 173 (moderate) at the same time on Monday. Dense fog is likely to continue for the next few days but may improve from January 3. The cold wave is expected to reduce visibility and keep daytime temperatures low across Northwest India. After some relief in air quality due to recent rains in Delhi and the NCR, pollution worsened again on December 31, returning to the ‘poor’ category.
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