Rain and wind swept through the Capital on Tuesday, lowering the maximum temperature but not improving air quality, which worsened to ‘very poor’.
Under the influence of a Western Disturbance (WD), the city received a second spell of rain this winter season. The average rainfall was 4.2 mm, with 14.6 mm at Palam, 3.4 mm at Lodhi Road, 14.4 mm at Ridge, and 4 mm at Aya Nagar. With the latest spell of rain, Delhi has recorded the wettest January since 2022.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the maximum temperature settled at 16.9 degrees Celsius, 5.2 degrees below normal, while the minimum was 8 degrees Celsius, 4.2 degrees Celsius above normal.
Despite the rain, the average air quality index (AQI) in Delhi at 4 p.m. was 336 (‘very poor’), compared with 241 (‘poor’) recorded a day earlier. “The air quality is likely to be in the ‘poor’ category on January 28 and 29 and back in the ‘very poor’ category on January 30,” stated the forecast issued by the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi.
An AQI of 51-100 is considered ‘satisfactory,’ 101-200 ‘moderate,’ 201-300 ‘poor,’ 301-400 ‘very poor,’ and 401-500 ‘severe’.
