Delhi's air quality improves; respite from pollution seems near as IMD predicts rain in 3 days

Delhi's air quality registered marginal improvement on Tuesday morning as the AQI entered ‘very poor’ range after two-consecutive days of ‘severe’ levels. However, the battle with air pollution continues as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 395 at 8:00 am, according to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A total of 23 monitoring stations out of 38 recorded ‘severe’ AQI on Tuesday. NSIT Dwarka reported best AQI at 300 on 20 January.

Delhi weather forecast

Moving to Delhi weather forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, "Partly cloudy sky. Shallow to moderate fog during morning hours. The maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi are likely to be in the ranges of 23°C to 25°C and 07°C to 09°C respectively. The minimum temperature will be near normal and the maximum temperatures will be above normal (1.6 to 3.0) over Delhi.

Delhi's air quality registered marginal improvement on Tuesday morning as the AQI entered the ‘very poor’ range after two consecutive days of ‘severe’ levels. However, the battle with air pollution is far from over, as the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 395 at 8:00 am, according to data released by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).

A total of 23 monitoring stations out of 38 recorded ‘severe’ AQI on Tuesday. NSIT Dwarka reported the best AQI of 300 on 20 January.

Delhi weather forecast

Moving to Delhi weather forecast, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said, “Partly cloudy sky. Shallow to moderate fog during morning hours. The maximum and minimum temperatures in Delhi are likely to be in the ranges of 23°C to 25°C and 07°C to 09°C respectively. The minimum temperature will be near normal and the maximum temperatures will be above normal (1.6 to 3.0) over Delhi.”

According to IMD, three Western Disturbances in quick succession are likely to cause a wet spell over the Western Himalayan region. Predicting precipitation over adjoining plains of northwest India, IMD in its latest press release said, “Isolated to Scattered light to moderate rainfall likely during 22nd-25th January. Thunderstorm activity accompanied with lightning and gusty winds (speed 30-40 kmph) during 22nd -24th January.” It added the possibility of rain in Delhi on 23 January.

A layer of smog shrouded parts of Delhi NCR, as visuals from ITO and the Swaminarayan Akshardham temple area in Pandav Nagar indicated low visibility.

IMD said a marked increase in temperatures was observed on Monday. They have issued no cold wave alert, neither for today nor for the coming days. Safdarjung, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a minimum temperature of 7.7°C on Monday.

The weather office has forecast no significant change in minimum temperatures over northwest India over the next two days, but expects a gradual rise in temperature today and tomorrow by 2 to 4°C.

For the neighbouring states of Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the IMD has forecast dense to very dense fog conditions for the next one to two days. The weather agency issued a nowcast yellow and orange alert for dense fog, which will remain valid till 10:46 am today.

On Saturday, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) reinvoked Stage-IV measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) due to deteriorating air quality.