Parts of Delhi witness ‘cold day’ conditions, shallow to dense fog likely on Monday

Some parts of Delhi reeled under “cold day” conditions for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday, while the sun peeked through the clouds and fog at a few other places, providing slight relief from the biting cold. The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory, which is considered the official marker for the city, settled at 8.1 degrees Celsius, a notch above the season’s normal. The maximum temperature settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius, three notches below the normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. The Safdarjung Observatory did not record a cold day. The relative humidity was 70 per cent at 5.30 pm. “Overall, Delhi saw day 4 of the cold day spell on Sunday.

Some places, including Palam, reported a cold day. Today, it (the situation) has improved in parts of the city, including Safdarjung and Lodhi road, where a cold day was not observed,” a senior IMD scientist said. The “cold day” spell started from January 13 mainly due to fog and low clouds, he said. The weatherman has predicted a partly cloudy sky with shallow to moderate fog on Monday morning and “cold day” conditions at isolated places. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 16 degrees Celsius and 8 degrees Celsius respectively.

Delhi on Saturday shivered under “cold day” conditions, recording the season’s lowest maximum temperature at 14.8 degrees Celsius as thick fog blotted out the sun. The minimum temperature at the Safdarjung Observatory had settled at 6.1 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. According to the IMD, a “cold day” is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below normal. The national capital’s air quality index (AQI) read 261 at 6.06 pm. The AQI in neighbouring Faridabad stood at 302, Ghaziabad 258, Greater Noida 238 and Gurgaon 188. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.