Delhi faces a cold snap as the minimum temperature has dropped to 4.1 degrees Celsius
New Delhi:
A cold snap washed over Delhi today as icy winds blowing from the snow-covered western Himalayas lowered the minimum temperature to 4.1 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the city this season so far, the Indian Meteorological Department said. (IM D).
For the plains, the IMD declares a cold wave when the minimum temperature is 10 degrees Celsius or less and is 4.5 degrees less than normal for two consecutive days.
“However, for small areas like Delhi, a cold snap can be declared if the criteria are met even for one day,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, head of IMD’s regional forecasting center.
At 4.1 degrees Celsius, the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, which provides representative data for the city, was five degrees below normal this morning.
At Jafarpur, the mercury dropped to 3.6 degrees Celsius.
The Ayanagar and Lodhi Road weather stations recorded a low of 4 degrees Celsius and 4.2 degrees Celsius respectively, the IMD said.
On Monday, the maximum temperature in the national capital had dropped to 19.4 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal and the lowest so far this month, as cold winds hit the city.
The air quality has also improved to the “moderate” category due to the strong winds.
Delhi’s Air Quality Index (AQI) was 190 at 10am. The 24-hour average AQI was 160 on Monday, 305 on Sunday, and 356 on Saturday.
An AQI between zero 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”.
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