There was severe cold even on the first day of the New Year. Awakening
State Bureau, New Delhi. There was severe cold even on the first day of the New Year. On Thursday, the maximum temperature in Delhi was recorded at 17.3 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal, while the minimum temperature was 10.6 degrees Celsius, which was 3.7 degrees above normal.
There was fog at many places in the morning and cloud cover during the day. Drizzle and light rain also occurred at some places. Moderate to very dense fog is expected at many places on Friday. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert regarding this.
The weather will remain like this for the coming few days or there will be a drop in the temperature. The Meteorological Department has predicted cold wave conditions at different places between January 2 and 5.
Cold wave is declared when the minimum temperature falls by 4.5 to 6.5 degrees Celsius below normal. There is a possibility of dense to very dense fog at many places in Delhi during night and morning hours till January 6.
Visibility remained very low in many areas on Thursday. Visibility at Indira Gandhi International Airport was recorded at 500 meters from 9.30 pm on Wednesday to 8 am on Thursday, which increased to 600 meters by 8.30 am. The maximum temperature at different places in Delhi ranged between 14.8 to 17.3 degrees Celsius.
Safdarjung recorded 17.3, Indira Gandhi International Airport 15.9, Lodhi Road 15.8, Ridge 16.6 and Ayanagar recorded the lowest of 14.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature in the area ranged between 9 to 10.6 degrees Celsius. It was 10.6 degrees Celsius in Safdarjung, 9 in Palam, 10 in Lodhi Road, 9.9 in Ridge and 10.3 degrees Celsius in Ayanagar. Relative humidity was recorded at 97 percent in the morning and 87 percent in the evening.
Delhi's air will remain very bad till January 4
Even on the first day of the year, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) remained in the very poor category. The 24-hour average AQI was recorded at 380. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), 26 stations were in very poor and 11 in severe category. Anand Vihar had the highest pollution. There AQI was 423 i.e. in severe category.
The air is likely to remain in very poor category till January 4. According to Decision Support System data, 11 percent pollution was from transportation, 1.3 percent from industry and construction, 0.7 percent from road dust and 2.9 percent from residential sources. At the same time, Bulandshahr's share in Delhi's pollution was 9.8 percent, Gautam Buddha Nagar's 6.6 percent and Faridabad's 4.1 percent share.
Also read- 65% of PM-2.5 in Delhi comes from other cities, cities of neighboring states are also responsible for pollution.