- Thursday, May 02, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
THE city of Delhi on Friday (31) woke up to cold wave conditions as the minimum temperature fell to 3.8 degrees Celsius, according to the India meteorological department. The air quality also dipped to ‘very poor quality’, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.
Similar conditions were likely to continue for the next few days, the weather department forecast.
The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 19 degrees Celsius while there will be shallow fog, the department said.
The weather stations at the city’s Palam and Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of seven degrees and four degrees, respectively.
In the plains, the weather department declares a cold wave if the minimum temperature falls to four degrees. A cold wave is also announced when the maximum temperature is 10 degrees and 4.5 marks below normal.
Delhi experienced cold wave conditions on December 20 and 21 when the maximum temperature was recorded at 3.2 degrees, the lowest so far this season, and four degrees, respectively.
Delhi’s air quality was in the “very poor” category as India’s ministry of earth sciences’ SAFAR system recorded an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 308 on Friday.
According to a bulletin from SAFAR, New Year celebrations on Friday night might raise the emission levels that would worsen the air quality but the net effect is likely to keep the AQI within ‘very poor’ and ‘higher end of very poor’ for the next three days.
“AQI today indicates ‘Very Poor’ air quality. Prevailing cold wave conditions in the northwest region of Delhi and winds blowing from the west/northwest direction affect weather in Delhi. However, minimum and maximum temperatures show a tendency to increase slightly for the next 3 days (December 31, January 1 and January 2). Consistently high wind speeds are likely for the next three days. Mixing layer height continues to be 1.0 – 1.5 km,” the SAFAR bulletin said.
