Residents of Delhi continue to face an air pollution crisis as there is no relief from the rain anytime soon. India Meteorological Department (IMD). Forecasting clear skies, the IMD said shallow fog is likely at most places and light fog at isolated places in the morning hours.
“Minimum temperatures are likely to be below normal (-1.6 to -3.0) during the next 3 days and normal (-1.5 to 1.5°C) thereafter,” the IMD said in its latest press release on November 24.
The Met Office has predicted shallow to moderate fog during the morning hours until November 28. The maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to settle in the range of 23 to 25 degrees Celsius, while the minimum temperatures will hover somewhere between 8 to 10 degrees Celsius.
Notably, minimum temperatures are in the range of 7-10 degrees Celsius in several northwestern states including Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, the IMD said.
Weather forecast for the next 5 days
In the next 5 days, the minimum temperature could remain in the range of 8 to 12, while the maximum temperature should settle between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius. This forecast is in line with the season average. Notably, Delhi recorded its coldest morning of the month in three years on November 17. The minimum temperature on the day fell to 8.7 degrees Celsius, nearly 3.6 degrees below normal, according to the IMD.
Meanwhile, in the last three years, 7.3 degrees Celsius was the lowest minimum temperature for this month, which was recorded on November 29, 2022.
According to Skymet Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Mahesh Palawat, the mercury is expected to drop further once the rains begin in Delhi. “Until it rains, the day temperature will not drop. After the rain, temperatures will drop faster,” PTI quoted Mahesh Palawat as saying. Hinting that light rain is likely in the coming days, he said Delhi will be cooler early in the morning after the downpour in May.
Air quality in Delhi
The air pollution situation seems to have improved slightly as the overall air quality index (AQI) reached 362 at 8:00 am on Tuesday, an improvement from the 382 AQI registered on November 24, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.
On Tuesday, only the Rohini monitoring station reported “severe” air quality, while 36 stations recorded “very poor” air quality. A total of two monitoring stations recorded AQI in the “poor” range, including Mandir Marg and Dilshad Garden, says Sameer CPCB app data.
