Maximum temperature rises by 4.7°C in Delhi, air ‘moderately’ polluted

The maximum temperature saw a sharp 4.7-degree rise from Friday’s 18.5 degrees Celsius (°C) and peaked at 23.2°C on Saturday, the India Meteorological Department said, attributing this to largely clear skies prevailing throughout the day in the aftermath of intermittent spells of rain through Thursday and Friday.

IMD has issued a “yellow alert” for more drizzle on Sunday morning along with cloudy skies, following the second wave of western disturbances, weather officials said.

The effect of the first proper rainfall this year continued to keep the bad air spell in check to clock a 24-hour average air quality reading of 200 (moderate) at 4pm, according to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) daily national bulletin. This was 217 (poor) during the same time on Friday.

Read here: Western disturbances have decreased temperatures, not rain deficit

“A yellow alert has been issued for Sunday for light rain or drizzle in various parts of Delhi and adjoining places. This is due to the second wave of western disturbances, even though this one is going to be much less intense than the first one at the end of January.” Kuldeep Srivastava, a scientist at the IMD, said,

On January 31, the first wave of western disturbances caused light to moderate rain along with thundershowers in parts of the Capital. It brought down the air quality index (AQI) by over 200 points from 392 (very poor) on January 31 to 177 (moderate) on February 1.

CPCB classifies an AQI of 51 to 100 as “satisfactory”, between 101 and 200 as “moderate”, between 201 and 300 as “poor”, between 301 and 400 as “very poor” and over 400 as “severe”.

“There was a very short span of dense fog in the early hours of Saturday, from around 5.30am to 7.30am. But it cleared out soon and mostly clear skies were observed throughout the day. As a result, the maximum went up as more sunlight could reach the earth’s surface,” Srivastava added.

The airport authorities said that no major flight disruptions occurred during those two hours of dense fog on Saturday.

January 2024 only recorded “trace” rainfall, on January 23, leading to a 100% deficit. The latest spell of rain started after 8.30am on January 31 — which was counted for February’s monthly total — surpassed the monthly quota for February at 26.5mm. The monthly average is 21.3mm. IMD counts rain for a month until 8.30 am on its last day as part of its record-keeping measures.

The minimum, meanwhile, was recorded at 6.7°C, two degrees below normal. The same was 7°C on Friday. IMD has forecast that the maximum should stay between 19°C and 20°C till the beginning of next week, while the minimum will hover around 10°C for the same period.

Other weather stations recorded a similar maximum and minimum as Safdarjung, which is representative of Delhi’s weather. Palam recorded a maximum of 21.3°C and a minimum of 7°C. Lodhi Road recorded a maximum and minimum of 22.7°C and 6.6°C respectively, while Ridge recorded a high of 21.9°C and a low of 7.1°C.

The Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi has, meanwhile, forecast that the air quality in Delhi should stay in the “moderate” category for the next few days.