NEW DELHI: The minimum temperature rose to 13.5 degrees Celsius on Friday in Safdarjung, the city’s base station, six degrees above normal. It was highest in both Pitampura and East Delhi sports complex at 16.2 degrees. A Met official said overnight temperatures rose in most locations due to easterly winds and cloud cover.
After Thursday’s rain, the air quality index (AQI) improved on Friday to 182 in the moderate category compared to 258 in the poor category the previous day. The last time Delhi recorded a “moderate” AQI – 139 – was on October 26. However, it is likely to deteriorate from Sunday.
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The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a “yellow” alert for Saturday as light to moderate rain along with gusty winds of 30-40 km/h are likely due to an active westerly disturbance.
According to IMD, some stations that recorded a high overnight temperature were Najafgarh with 15.9 degrees Celsius, SPS Mayur Vihar with 14.4 and Palam with 13.8. The maximum temperature in Safdarjung was 20.3 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal. RK Jenamani, senior scientist at IMD, said: “The east winds are bringing warmer air. The cloud cover keeps the night warmer as it acts as a blanket and radiative cooling does not occur.”
IMD’s forecast states that the minimum temperature could rise to 14 degrees Celsius, while the maximum temperature could drop to 18 degrees on Saturday.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research, a key forecasting body, said: “The prevailing drizzle/rain spell weather is causing effective wet deposition and improving the AQI. On January 8th, rain is expected with high wind speeds, resulting in a further improvement of the AQI to ‘fair’ or ‘good’ due to wet deposition and heavy dispersion.”
From Jan. 9, however, AQI is likely to deteriorate due to the gradual decline in high and low temperatures and wind speed, all of which contribute to low levels of pollutant spread, he added.
