Delhi is experiencing a cold wave and dense fog this week in many areas.
India Meteorological Department (IMD’s) 7-day forecast indicates that temperatures will steadily decline starting Wednesday, January 8, with cold day conditions expected in isolated areas.
Foggy mornings are likely to persist, with dense fog anticipated in specific areas. There will be significant drop in temperature, with forecasts predicting a minimum of 5 degrees Celsius by Friday.
The IMD reported that the Safdarjung Observatory, the city’s primary weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 16.2°C, 2.8 degrees above the seasonal average.
The minimum temperature was logged at 10.5°C, which is 3.6 degrees higher than normal. Humidity levels remained high, oscillating between 87% and 92% throughout the day.
Dense Fog Disrupts Visibility
Early Tuesday morning, thick fog engulfed Delhi, reducing visibility to as low as 150 meters in some areas, including Palam, where dense fog persisted between 5 and 5:30 AM.
The visibility later improved to 700 meters as the fog lifted. At Safdarjung, the minimum visibility was recorded at 500 meters. This heavy fog led to delays in 25 train services, adding to the inconvenience for commuters.
AQI remains ‘Poor’
There is a slight improvement in Delhi’s air quality on Tuesday, Jan 7, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 296 in the “poor” category, compared to 335 recorded on Monday, which fell under the “very poor” category.
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) stated that Delhi’s AQI, which had remained in the “very poor” category for the past week, improved marginally on Tuesday due to favorable weather conditions, including enhanced wind speeds.
The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) recently revoked Stage 3 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) for Delhi-NCR. However, restrictions under Stages 1 and 2, including measures to control vehicular emissions and industrial pollution, remain in force.
An AQI of 0-50 is classified as “good,” 51-100 “satisfactory,” 101-200 “moderate,” 201-300 “poor,” 301-400 “very poor,” and 401-500 “severe.”
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