Cold Wave Deepens In Delhi, Air Quality Improves To 'Moderate' Category
Since Sunday (15.12.2019), the cold wave has affected the normal lives of the people in the Northern parts of India. Dense fog is likely to occur in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi.
Cold wave conditions have intensified in New Delhi after the heavy rainfall last week. As of Tuesday early morning, the temperature was recorded at 10.4 degrees Celcius and the maximum temperature is expected to be at 14 degrees Celcius. The chilling cold conditions have affected the normal lives of the people. Some pictures were tweeted by news agency of people sleeping at a night shelter at All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital, which was mostly under the 'severe' or 'very poor' category for the last two months, improved fairly after an increase in wind speed. The particulate matter PM 2.5 was at 116 ('moderate' category) and PM 10 at 91 ('satisfactory' category), in the Lodhi Road area, according to the Air Quality Index (AQI) data. As per System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), AQI is likely to marginally deteriorate and stay at the 'poor' category on Tuesday and Wednesday and it may deteriorate to 'poor' to the lower end of the 'very poor' category on Thursday. This is one of the longest predictions in recent years when AQI is within 'moderate' to 'poor' category in December, despite the persistent fog. Increased moisture and decrease in minimum temperature are forecasted for the next two days, conditions are favorable for fog formation on a calm early morning period said by the weather body. Delhi and its nearby areas witnessed moderate to very heavy rainfall last week, leading to cold weather conditions. Over the weekend, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that cold wave is likely to prevail in isolated pockets over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. More dense fog will be likely to occur in some pockets over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, and Delhi.
