Delhi’s AQI improves to ‘moderate’ due to cold winds, Grap I curbs revoked

Cold winds with speeds of up to 40 kmph led to a sharp dip in mercury in Delhi on Saturday, with the city recording temperatures significantly below the normal for this time of the year, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. However, this relief is expected to be only temporary — the Met has forecast that the temperatures will rise in the coming days, though the Capital is unlikely to break the 40-degree mark in the coming week.

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The Safdarjung observatory — the base weather station for Delhi — on Saturday recorded a minimum of 15.5°C, 2.6°C below normal and a drop of more than 5 notches from the previous day’s 20.9°C. Other parts of the city were even cooler — the Ridge station logged a day’s low of 10.2°C, a whopping 9.4°C below normal.

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The city’s maximum, meanwhile, was 29.6°C, about 3°C below normal — the first time since March 17 that the day’s high was below the 30-degree mark.

IMD has predicted strong winds to continue on Sunday, which will be keeping the day cool, though the temperatures are likely to increase thereafter. “The maximum and minimum temperatures over Delhi are likely to be around 32°C and 16°C, respectively. The predominant surface wind will likely be from the northwest direction with a speed of 10-12km/h in the morning, increasing marginally at night,” an IMD official said.

The strong winds also helped improve Delhi’s air quality on Saturday, as the AQI dropped back to the “moderate” zone with a reading of 153 after being “poor” for five straight days.

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With forecasts predicting continued improvement, the Commission for Air Quality Management lifted stage 1 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap), which had been in place since March 24. “Keeping in view this trend of improvement in the overall AQI of Delhi, the Grap Sub-Committee unanimously decides to withdraw Stage-I of the extant schedule of Grap,” the order said.

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, winds will keep the air quality in the “moderate” category for the next six days.