Early-winter chill grips Delhi as temperature drops to season’s low of 8.7°C

Delhi tightened under biting early-winter chill on Monday as the season’s lowest minimum temperature of 8.7°C coincided with “very poor’’ air quality, the CPCB said. The AQI averaged 356, with five stations slipping into the “severe’’ band and most others lodged in “very poor’’ levels. The IMD noted humidity at 92% in the morning, even as clear skies were expected to keep the day’s maximum near 26°C.

The previous lowest in recent years was 7.3 degrees on November 29, 2022. In 2023, the lowest minimum in November was 9.2 degrees, and in 2024, 9.5 degrees.

At the same time the city recorded ‘very poor’ air quality with an overall AQI of 356, even as the city logged its lowest minimum temperature of the season at 8.7 degrees Celsius, the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the IMD said.

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Data from the CPCB’s Sameer app showed that five monitoring stations reported air quality in the ‘severe’ category, while 29 stations recorded ‘very poor’ levels with readings between 300 and 400. Four stations fell in the ‘poor’ category.

Among the 38 AQI monitoring stations in the capital, Bawana reported the highest pollution level with an AQI of 419. Other areas in the “severe” category included Narela (405), Jahangirpuri (404), Wazirpur (402) and Rohini (401).

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