Minimum temperature rises to 9 degrees Celsius in Delhi due to cloud cover

Delhi's minimum temperature rose to 9 degrees Celsius, two notches more than normal, on Monday due to party cloudy weather and prevailing easterly winds, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 17 degrees Celsius.

On Sunday, the minimum and maximum temperatures stood at 5.7 degrees Celsius and 15.3 degrees Celsius, respectively, resulting in cold day conditions.

A cold day is when the minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees Celsius and the maximum is at least 4.5 degrees Celsius below normal.

An IMD official said easterly winds are blowing in Delhi which are not as cold as northwesterly coming in from the snow-clad western Himalayas.

Also, a light cloud cover trapped some of the outgoing infrared radiation. Hence, the minimum temperature has increased slightly, he said.

The city's air quality index was 380 at 9 am. The 24-hour average AQI was 347 on Sunday. It was 407 on Saturday, 460 on Friday, 429 on Thursday, and 354 on Wednesday.

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.

Delhi's overall air quality index (AQI) remained in the severe category for three days on the trot till Saturday.