COURTESY HT JAN 15

Delhi minimum temp dips to 2°C as cold spell persists
New Delhi : Delhi woke up to a shivering, foggy and polluted morning on Thursday with the mercury falling down to 2 degrees Celsius, five below the season’s normal, and the air entering the “severe” zone.

On Thursday, the minimum temperature at the Safdarjung observatory, considered the official marker for the city, was 2°C. The maximum temperature was 19.2°C, one degree below what is considered to be normal for this time of the year. At the Palam and Lodhi Road weather stations, the minimum temperatures were 4.9°C and 2.4°C respectively.

According to the regional weather forecasting centre of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), severe cold wave conditions will continue in Delhi till January 18. It has forecast a respite after that due to a change in wind direction.

Meanwhile, as cold wave conditions continued in the city, the air quality continued to deteriorate on Thursday, with the overall air quality index (AQI) in Delhi touching 429, in the “severe” zone, according to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). This is the third time in the last fortnight that the AQI in Delhi had crossed the “severe” mark.

Union ministry of earth science’s air quality monitoring centre warned that the coming week could be the “first extended extreme air pollution event for 2021”. htc