New Delhi: It was a misty morning in the national capital on Saturday with the minimum temperature recorded at 5.4 degrees Celsius, two notches below average, while the air quality was ‘very poor’.
“There was mist or shallow fog in the morning. During the day, a partly cloudy sky can be seen with gusty winds which is likely to lead to light rains or thundershower later in the day,” an India Meteorological Department (IMD) official told IANS.
“Light rain is expected to occur at isolated places in the national capital until January 7,” the official added.
The maximum temperature on Saturday was recorded at 20 degrees Celsius. The Met Office has forecast a fall in the maximum temperature by 2-3 degrees until January 9-10.
Humidity at 8.30 a.m. was recorded at 100 per cent — a highly unfavourable condition for pollutants to disperse.
In terms of pollution, the overall air quality on Saturday morning was recorded in the upper level of the ‘very poor’ category with Air Quality Index (AQI) hovering around 368.
“The air quality is likely to improve significantly until tonight (Saturday) but will continue to remain in the ‘very poor’ range for the next three days.
“Rapid improvement is expected only if sufficient amount of rainfall occurs whose probability is less. Little shower with calm winds only aggravates the situation,” System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) said.
As per SAFAR, fog intensity is likely to decline with increased gusty winds.
“An active western disturbance is very likely to cause fairly widespread moisture intrusion over the northern region of the country including Delhi and withdrawal is expected only after three days,” the agency said.
Across 35 areas in Delhi where pollution is actively monitored, the average concentration of PM2.5 and PM10 was 295 and 466 microgrammes per cubic meters on Saturday at 10 a.m.
The PM2.5 and PM10 concentration across 48 monitoring stations in the NCR was 277 and 440, respectively.
[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]