Delhi sees sharp dip in temperatures, marginal improvement in air quality after rain

New Delhi: The national capital on Saturday witnessed a sharp drop in temperatures and a slight improvement in air quality following a spell of rain a day earlier. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Safdarjung station recorded a minimum temperature of 7.6 degrees Celsius, 0.1 degrees above the seasonal normal, marking a sharp fall from Friday's minimum of 13.7 degrees Celsius, the highest in four years.

Among other major stations, Palam and Lodhi Road recorded minimum temperatures of 6.8 degrees Celsius each, while The Ridge saw 6.6 degrees Celsius and Ayanagar 6 degrees Celsius, the lowest.

Air quality also showed a marginal improvement on Saturday morning, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 256 in the 'poor' category, compared to 293 on Friday, according to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) Sameer app.

The air quality was recorded as ‘poor’ at 29 stations and ‘very poor’ at four stations, while data for three stations were unavailable at the time of filing this report. Dwarka recorded the lowest AQI at 113.

The Air Quality Early Warning System has forecast Delhi's air quality to remain in the 'poor' category for the next two days, with the outlook for the subsequent six days indicating conditions ranging between 'poor' and 'very poor'.

The IMD has forecast maximum and minimum temperatures in the range of 17–19 degrees Celsius and 6–8 degrees Celsius, respectively. While minimum temperatures are expected to remain near normal, maximum temperatures are likely to be 1.3–3.3 degrees Celsius below normal. The weather department has also predicted a generally cloudy sky, shallow to moderate fog during morning hours, and strong surface winds with speeds of 10–20 kmph.