Delhi weather today: Smog blankets capital as NCR pollution woes continue; mercury to drop 2 to 3 degrees, predicts IMD

Delhi residents continue to face air pollution crisis as no relief from rain appears in near sight. The India Meteorological Department (IMD). Predicting clear sky, IMD said shallow fog is likely at most places and moderate fog at isolated places during morning hours.

“The minimum temperatures are likely to be below normal (-1.6 to -3.0) during next 3 days and normal (-1.5 to 1.5°C) thereafter,” IMD in its latest press release dated 24 November.

The weather agency predicted shallow to moderate fog during morning hours until 28 November. The maximum temperature in Delhi is expected to settle in the range of 23 to 25 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperatures is expected to hover anywhere between 8 and 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, IMD said.

Weather forecast for next 5 days

In the next 5 days, the minimum temperature might stay in 8 and 12 range while the maximum temperature is expected to settle between 23 and 27 degrees Celsius. This prediction aligns with the season's average. Notably, Delhi recorded coldest morning of the month in three years on 17 November. According to IMD, the minimum temperature dropped to 8.7 degrees Celsius on this day, almost 3.6 notches below normal.

Meanwhile, in the last three years, 7.3 degrees Celsius was the lowest minimum temperature for this month which was recorded on 29 November 2022.

According to Skymet Vice President (Meteorology and Climate Change), Mahesh Palawat, the mercury is expected to drop further once Delhi receives rainfall. "Till it rains, the day temperature will not fall. After rain, temperatures will dip more rapidly," PTI quoted Mahesh Palawat as saying. Suggesting that light rain is likely in the coming days, he said after the downpour may Delhi will see colder early mornings.

Delhi air quality

The air pollution situation seems to have improved slightly as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 362 on Tuesday at 8:00 AM, marking an improvement from 382 AQI registered on 24 November, according to Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data.

On Tuesday, only Rohini monitoring station reported 'severe' air quality while 36 stations registered 'very poor' air quality. A total of two monitoring station recorded AQI in ‘poor’ range, including Mandir Marg and Dilshad Garden, CPCB's Sameer app data says.