'Cold day' in parts of Delhi, shallow fog likely on Tuesday

Delhiites shivered in the biting cold on Monday as cold day conditions prevailed at isolated places in the city with the temperature plummeting at least five to six degrees below normal in some parts, the weather office said.

However, at the Safdarjung observatory, which is considered the official marker of Delhi, there were no cold day conditions as the maximum temperature settled four notches below the season's average at 16.1 degrees Celsius on Monday.

The minimum temperature of the city was recorded at 8.7 degrees Celsius, two notches above the season's average.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cold day is when the minimum temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum temperature is at least five degrees Celsius below normal.

IMD data showed that cold day conditions prevailed at Lodhi Road, Ridge, Narela, Jafarpur and Mayur Vihar.

At Lodhi Road, the maximum temperature settled at 16 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. At the Ridge the maximum temperature was 15.2 degrees Celsius, five notches below the season's average, while the minimum temperature was 6.1 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal.

At the Narela observatory, the maximum temperature settled at 13.6 degrees Celsius, six notches below normal while the minimum was 4.3 degrees Celsius, three notches below normal.

Similarly, at the Mayur Vihar observatory, the drop in maximum temperature was six degrees Celsius as it settled at 14.2 degrees Celsius while the minimum temperature was 8.9 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal.

At Jafarpur, the maximum temperature was 13.2 degrees Celsius, seven notches below normal and the minimum was recorded at 6.9 degrees Celsius, normal for this time of the season.

The city will witness shallow fog in the morning on Tuesday. The maximum and minimum temperatures on Tuesday will hover around 18 and 10 degrees Celsius, the weather office said.

The relative humidity at 5.30 pm was 74 per cent, it said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board's (CPCB) 24-hour air quality bulletin at 4 pm on Monday, Delhi's AQI was 327 in the very poor category.

The AQIs of its neighbouring cities Ghaziabad (356), Greater Noida (309), Noida (327) and Faridabad (332) were also recorded in the very poor category. The AQI in Gurugram was 219 in the poor category.

An AQI between zero and 50 is considered good, 51 and 100 satisfactory, 101 and 200 moderate, 201 and 300 poor, 301 and 400 very poor, and 401 and 500 severe.