Slight respite from cold conditions in Delhi

Delhiites on Wednesday woke up to a slight relief from the biting cold as the national capital registered a minimum temperature of 8.3 degrees Celsius, slightly above the season’s average, said the weather office.

In January so far, Delhi has seen five cold days and five coldwave days, marking the highest occurrence in the past 13 years according to India Meteorological Department data. The city experienced mainly clear skies with moderate fog, as observed by the IMD.

Late on Tuesday night, the visibility at various observatories in Delhi improved, with Safdarjung recording a visibility of 500 meters and Palam recording 700 meters at 11.45 pm. Delhi’s IGI Airport reported a visibility of 600 meters from 5.30 am.

Fog in parts of northern India led to delays of one to six hours for twenty-four Delhi-bound trains, as reported by the Indian Railways.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in the city continued to linger in the “very poor” category. At 9 am, the AQI was recorded at 392 in the national capital, showing a slight increase from the 376 recorded on Tuesday. As a reference, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good,’ 51 to 100 ‘satisfactory,’ 101 to 200 ‘moderate,’ 201 to 300 ‘poor,’ 301 to 400 ‘very poor,’ and 401 to 500 ‘severe.’

The relative humidity at 8.30 am stood at 97 percent, according to the IMD.