Chilly day in Delhi, mercury records low of 5.8 deg C

New Delhi, Jan 8 (PTI) The national capital recorded a low of 5.8 degrees Celsius on Thursday, the third lowest this winter, as people experienced a sharp chill throughout the day with maximum temperatures remaining lower than normal across all monitoring stations.

Palam emerged as the coldest station with a minimum of 4.8 degrees Celsius, while Ridge and Ayanagar all recorded 5.8 degrees Celsius, according to the weather office.

The Safdarjung observatory, which serves as Delhi's base weather station recorded a low of 5.8 degrees, 1.1 notch below normal.

The maximum temperature in Delhi settled at 17.5 degrees Celsius, around 1.5 degrees Celsius below the seasonal average. Among the monitoring stations, Palam recorded the lowest maximum temperature at 14.5 degrees Celsius, nearly 4.2 degrees Celsius below normal, India Meteorological Department (IMD) observations showed.

No rainfall was recorded in the city in the twenty-four hours ending around 8 am, the weather office said.

Dense fog reduced visibility at Safdarjung and Palam during the early morning hours on Thursday, with visibility dropping to 500 metres at Safdarjung and 100 metres at Palam, before improving gradually by around 8 am, according to the IMD.

Delhi recorded its first cold day of the year on January 6, when the maximum temperature plunged to 15.7 degrees Celsius, 3.3 degrees below the season's average, while the minimum settled at 7.6 degrees Celsius, 0.7 degree below normal.

The capital continued to reel under cold day conditions on Wednesday, with the maximum temperature recorded at 16.7 degrees Celsius, 2.3 degrees below normal, and the minimum at 8.6 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below the seasonal average.

According to the IMD, cold day conditions are declared when the minimum temperature drops below 10 degrees Celsius, and the maximum falls about 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below the normal.

The lowest minimum temperature of the winter season was recorded on December 4 and 5 last year, when the mercury dipped to 5.6 degrees Celsius. On December 1, the minimum temperature stood at 5.7 degrees Celsius, making Thursday’s reading the third lowest so far this winter.

The IMD has issued a yellow alert for dense fog for Friday. The weather office has also forecast a minimum temperature of around 6 degrees Celsius and a maximum of about 17 degrees Celsius for the day.

The air quality in the national capital showed a slight improvement on Thursday morning, settling in the 'poor' category, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded at 276.

Station-wise data showed that 22 monitoring stations were in the ‘poor’ category, while 15 stations recorded ‘very poor’ air quality. Nehru Nagar recorded the worst AQI at 343, as per CPCB’s Sameer app.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 and 50 is considered 'good', 51 and 100 'satisfactory', 101 and 200 'moderate', 201 and 300 'poor', 301 and 400 'very poor' and 401 and 500 'severe'.

Data from the Decision Support System (DSS) showed that transport remained the largest contributor to Delhi’s pollution load at 14.5 per cent, followed by Delhi and peripheral industries at 12.3 per cent. Residential sources accounted for 3.5 per cent, construction activities 1.8 per cent, and waste burning 1.2 per cent.

Among the NCR districts, Jhajjar emerges as the biggest external contributor at 23.9 per cent, followed by Bhiwani at 5.2 per cent, Rohtak at 4.9 per cent, Sonipat at 2.7 per cent and Gurugram at 1.5 per cent.

According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, air quality is likely to deteriorate to the 'very poor' category on January 9, before improving to 'poor' from January 10-11. The outlook for the subsequent six days suggests air quality will fluctuate between 'poor' and 'very poor'. PTI SGV SGV SKY SKY