Delhi: Below-normal minimum temperature logged; strong winds predicted

The capital saw a slight decrease in minimum temperature on Saturday, with forecast of strong gusts over the city for the next few days.

Safdarjung, the city’s base weather station, recorded a minimum of 24.8 degrees Celsius, 1.7 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature was 26.2 degrees Celsius a day before.

Other stations also recorded below-normal minimum temperatures. Palam recorded a minimum of 24.6 degrees Celsius, 2.5 degrees below normal, while the Ridge recorded 24.6 degrees Celisus, 2.1 degrees below normal.

“The drop in minimum happens when skies are clear, leading to more loss of heat from the earth’s surface. Mostly clear skies are expected to persist through Saturday,” an IMD official said.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, there is a “possibility of thundery development towards afternoon/evening” on Sunday, along with strong winds at 20-30 kmph, and occasional gusts at 40 kmph.

“Strong surface winds are expected to continue on Monday and Tuesday as well,” the official added.

IMD has forecast the maximum temperature to be around 40-42 degrees Celsius on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the city’s air quality index (AQI) remained in ‘moderate’ category at 173 at 9 am on Saturday, as compared to the 24-hour average AQI of 152, also ‘moderate’, recorded at 4 pm on Friday, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

As per CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered ‘good’, 51-100 ‘satisfactory’, 101-200 ‘moderate’, 201-300 ‘poor’, 301-400 ‘very poor’, and 401-500 ‘severe’.

The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast AQI to remain ‘moderate’ over the weekend and then subsequently deteriorate to ‘poor’ category on Monday.

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