Warm morning in Delhi, air quality ‘moderate’

Delhi: The national capital woke up to a warm morning on Friday with a minimum temperature of 17 degrees Celsius, 3.6 degrees above the season’s normal, the weather office said.

The maximum temperature is expected to settle at 34 degrees Celsius, with a forecast of mainly clear skies.

In the first five days of March, Delhi recorded its highest average minimum temperature in three years. Thursday also marked the hottest day of the season so far, with a minimum temperature of 18.2 degrees Celsius and maximum temperature at 34.3 degrees Celsius.

Station-wise data showed on Friday showed that Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 17.5 degrees Celsius, 4.9 degrees above normal. Lodhi Road recorded 16.3 degrees Celsius, 4.3 degrees above normal, while Ridge logged 17.8 degrees Celsius, 3.7 degrees above normal.

Delhi’s air quality was in the ‘moderate’ category with an AQI reading of 151 at 9 am.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) SAMEER app, 43 stations were in the ‘moderate’ category, while two stations were in the ‘poor’ category.

According to the CPCB classification, an AQI between 0 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 IMD has forecast misty skies for Saturday morning over Delhi.