Cold grips Delhi, minimum temperature settles around 3 degrees

Delhi woke up to intense cold conditions on Monday as the minimum temperature dipped to around 3 degrees Celsius at several weather stations across the city, making it the coldest January day since 2023.

On January 16, 2023, the minimum temperature had plunged to 1.4 degrees Celsius, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Station-wise data recorded at 8.30 am showed the Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's principal weather station, registered a minimum temperature of 3.2 degrees Celsius, which was 4.2 notches below normal.

Palam recorded a minimum temperature of 3.3 degrees Celsius, while Lodhi Road logged 3 degrees Celsius. Ridge recorded a minimum of 4.2 degrees Celsius and Ayanagar reported 3.2 degrees Celsius, the IMD data showed.

The IMD said the maximum temperature in the national capital is expected to touch 19 degrees Celsius. It said cold wave conditions are likely to persist over the national capital over the next two days.

Delhi's air quality, meanwhile, remained poor. According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the city's overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 298 in the 'poor' category.

Around 20 monitoring stations recorded 'very poor' air quality, while the remaining stations were in the 'poor' category. Nehru Nagar recorded the worst air quality with an AQI of 344.

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'.