Delhi logs slight dip in temperature; AQI at ‘moderate’

Cold, northwesterly winds with speeds of 10-20 kmph kept Delhi’s temperature and pollution levels in check on Sunday as the Capital recorded a slight dip in both maximum and minimum, and logged a “moderate” air day for a third day in a row.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast the wind direction to predominantly remain the same this week, and has predicted that the cold winds will not allow the mercury to significantly rise.

On Sunday, the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory — representative of Delhi’s weather — was 14.2 degrees Celsius (°C), a notch above normal, but nearly 2.5°C below the previous day’s minimum.

The maximum, meanwhile, was 27°C, marginally below normal for this time of the year, and a dip from the 28.6°C recorded a day earlier.

IMD has said the wind direction should be easterly on Monday, before remaining northwesterly between Tuesday and Friday. While easterly winds are warmer and bring moisture, northwesterly winds are colder, blowing from the western Himalayas towards the plains. The minimum is forecast to remain between 12-14°C on Monday, before rising to 15-17°C from till Friday.

“There are chances the maximum will be between 28-30°C on Monday, but it will then dip by 1-2°C and be between 25-28°C till Tuesday as cold northwesterly winds blow. Winds of 20-30 km/hr are expected around Tuesday and Wednesday,” said an IMD official.

Mahesh Palawat, vice president at Skymet said substantial snowfall has been recorded during a western disturbance that was affecting the Himalayas, which will impact both the maximum and minimum temperatures.

“Temperatures were rising in the region, but this latest western disturbance will marginally lead to a drop in temperature where colder winds will blow from the snow-clad mountains again. After March 10, a rise in temperature is again likely,” he said.

The winds blowing through the region also meant that Delhi’s air quality was in the “moderate” category for a third straight day, with the city’s average air quality index (AQI) at 125 on Sunday. It was 126 (moderate) on Saturday and 121 (moderate) on Friday.

Forecasts by the Centre’s Early Warning System for Delhi (EWS) shows these strong winds are expected to keep Delhi’s AQI in ‘moderate’ till at least Wednesday. “The AQI is likely to be in the ‘moderate’ category from Monday till Wednesday. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows that AQI will be between ‘moderate’ and ‘poor’,” said the EWS in its daily bulletin.