Min temperature in Delhi rises marginally

The minimum temperature in the national capital rose marginally on Tuesday but remained below 10 degrees Celsius, officials said.

The city recorded a high of 24.4 degrees Celsius, which was a notch below normal, and a low of 9.1 degrees Celsius.

On Monday, the mercury had dropped to 8 degrees Celsius, the season's lowest.

Weather experts said the minimum temperature is likely to drop again to 8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and to 7 degrees Celsius by Friday as high-velocity, cold and dry northwesterly winds continue to blow from higher hills.

The wind speed was 18-20 kmph on Tuesday and is likely to drop to 8 kmph on Wednesday, Kuldeep Srivastava, a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department, said.

Falling temperatures and an expected dip in wind speed are likely to push the pollution levels up by Friday.

On Tuesday, the city's air quality index read 282 at 4 pm, up from 279 at 4 pm on Monday.

The government's air quality monitor, SAFAR, said the AQI may marginally deteriorate to the lower end of the very poor category on Wednesday.

Further deterioration, to the higher-end of the very poor category, is predicted for Friday.

The farm fire count was 332 on Monday. The transport-level winds are north-westerly but the wind speed is high which is not favourable for pollutant accumulation.

There is a possibility of shallow to moderate fog on Wednesday morning.