Delhi residents reached for their windbreakers and heavy shawls as wintry chills gripped the capital Friday, with the city recording its lowest October day temperature in 75 years as the maximum plunged to 20.7 degrees Celsius amid two days of persistent rain.
The city also recorded its wettest October day in four years and its cleanest October air during the same period, with the AQI settling at 60, the lowest since October 10, 2022, when it was recorded at 44.
Dark clouds hung over the capital throughout the day, with intermittent spells of rain keeping temperatures unusually low. The sudden dip in temperatures, with shallow fog during early morning and late evening hours, had residents reaching for warm clothes as the mercury remained well below normal.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature at Safdarjung, Delhi’s base weather station, settled at 20.7 degrees Celsius, 10.3 degrees below normal. This is the lowest maximum temperature recorded in October at the station since 1951, according to available data.
Palam recorded a maximum of 20.5 degrees Celsius, 11.1 degrees below normal, while Lodhi Road recorded 20.6 degrees Celsius, 10.4 degrees below normal. The Ridge and Ayanagar recorded maximum temperatures of 20.8 degrees Celsius and 20.4 degrees Celsius, respectively, 10.1 degrees and 10.6 degrees below normal.
Amid ‘red’ and ‘orange’ alerts issued by the weather office cautioning of heavy rain, Delhi received 61.4 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am Friday. Rainfall continued through the day, with Safdarjung recording 4.2 mm, Palam 3 mm, Lodhi Road 4 mm, the Ridge 1.9 mm, and Ayanagar 2.1 mm rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm.
Friday proved the wettest October day in four years, and the sixth-wettest since 1951. The last time the city recorded higher daily rainfall in October was on October 9, 2022, when it received 74 mm.
The minimum temperature at Safdarjung settled at 17.2 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees above normal. Palam recorded a minimum of 15.4 degrees Celsius, 1.6 degrees below normal, while Lodhi Road recorded 18 degrees Celsius, three degrees above normal. The Ridge and Ayanagar recorded minimum temperatures of 16.8 degrees Celsius and 17.4 degrees Celsius, respectively, 0.5 degrees below normal and 1.1 degrees above normal.
The AQI stood at 60 on Friday, making it the cleanest October day since October 10, 2022, when the AQI was recorded at 44. The last time the air was better this year was on September 28, when AQI stood at 56.
Of the 54 monitoring stations in the city, 33 recorded ‘satisfactory’, 17 recorded ‘good’, and four recorded ‘moderate’ air quality. The cleanest air was recorded at Lodhi Road, where AQI stood at 33, while Pusa recorded the highest AQI at 105.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), an AQI between zero and 50 is classified as ‘good’, 51 and 100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 as ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 as ‘poor’, 301 and 400 as ‘very poor’, and 401 and 500 as ‘severe’.
According to the Air Quality Early Warning System, Delhi’s air quality is likely to remain in ‘moderate’ category on Saturday before deteriorating to ‘poor’ on November 1. The outlook for the subsequent six days indicates that air quality is likely to remain in ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ categories.
During this period, unfavourable meteorological conditions are likely to hamper dispersion of pollutants, with the ventilation index predicted to remain below 6,000 square metres per second and average wind speed below 10 kmph.
According to the Decision Support System, Delhi’s transport sector contributed 17.8 per cent to the city’s pollution load on Friday, while industrial emissions contributed 3.5 per cent and the residential sector 4.6 per cent.
Among NCR districts, Faridabad contributed 8.3 per cent, Gautam Buddha Nagar 7 per cent, Gurugram 6.3 per cent, Ghaziabad 4.8 per cent, Bulandshahr 2.5 per cent, Jhajjar 2.5 per cent and Muzaffarnagar 2.1 per cent to the capital’s pollution load.
According to the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, 44 farm fire incidents were recorded on Friday — 40 in Punjab and four in Rajasthan.
The IMD has forecast generally cloudy skies with light rain or drizzle for Friday night.
The maximum and minimum temperatures on Saturday are likely to settle around 24 degrees Celsius and 16 degrees Celsius, respectively, with partly cloudy skies.
Visibility also deteriorated sharply on Friday, falling to 1,015 metres at 2 pm, compared to 2,500 metres at the same time on Thursday.
Delhi also recorded its wettest October in four years, fourth-wettest since 1954, with cumulative rainfall at Safdarjung reaching 123.3 mm till 8.30 am on Friday, against the monthly normal of 15.1 mm. The last time the city received higher rainfall in October was in 2022, when it recorded 128 mm.
Relative humidity remained high, with both morning and evening readings settling at 100 per cent, according to the IMD.
As the month draws to a close, Delhi also recorded its cleanest October air in more than a decade, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) settling at 167, the lowest for the month since 2015, according to an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
