The minimum temperature in the Capital was 5.8 degree Celsius on Thursday and is expected to drop to 4 degree Celsius on Saturday and Sunday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
On Thursday, the air quality of the city was in the ‘very poor’ category and is expected to be ‘severe’ on Saturday and Sunday, said SAFAR, a government-run monitoring agency.
The minimum temperature on Thursday was two notches lower than the season’s normal, while the maximum temperature was 13.4 degree Celsius, colder than the season’s normal by seven degrees, the IMD said. The maximum temperature is likely to pick up slightly over the next few days.
The city’s air quality index (AQI) on Thursday was 349, said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
“On Friday, the AQI is forecast to deteriorate towards the higher end of ‘very poor’ category which is likely to enter ‘severe’ category by Saturday night. AQI is likely to further deteriorate and remain in the ‘severe’ category on December 29,” SAFAR added.
On Thursday, the average level of PM 2.5 was 172.5 ug/m3, which was about three times the safe limit of 60ug/m3, as per Indian standards in Delhi-NCR at 8 p.m., the CPCB said. The level was, however, more than six times the safe limit (25 ug/m3) set by the World Health Organization.
‘2nd coldest December’
The mean maximum temperature for December 2019 is expected to be 19.15 degree Celsius. “In that case, will be the second coldest December after 1997,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of regional weather forecasting centre, IMD.
