Monday could be the coldest day of the season in Gurugram: IMD

As light showers hit the city in the early hours of Sunday, the daytime temperature dropped sharply to settle at 18°C on Sunday, among the lowest daytime temperatures yet this season, and significantly improved the air quality. The minimum temperature on Sunday was 8.6°C.

According to officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), no rain is expected in the next few days and the sky will remain fairly clear with dense fog in the early morning hours.

While the minimum temperatures will remain in the 5°C to 6°C range throughout this week, the city is expected to experience a sharp drop in the maximum temperature from Monday, January 7. Monday could also see the season’s lowest maximum temperature with the mercury dropping to 16-17°C. Though the rest of the week is expected to be relatively less cold.

Meanwhile, Gurugram’s Air Quality Index (AQI) value dropped to 284 (‘poor’) on the Central Pollution Control’s Air Quality Index (AQI) bulletin, down from Saturday’s 404 (‘severe’). Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Noida also recorded ‘poor’ air, with respective values of 336, 336, 358 and 332 on the AQI bulletin, making city’s air cleanest in all of the national capital region (NCR).

Gurugram was also the least polluted city in Delhi-NCR on Sunday due to the influence of prevailing Western Disturbances, which are blowing airborne pollutants westward from the city.

PM2.5, the city’s primary pollutant, recorded a daily average concentration of 280ug/m3 on Sunday in the vicinity of Vikas Sadan in Sector 11, where the Haryana State Pollution Control Board’s only official air quality monitor is installed, as opposed to 355ug/m3 the previous day.

First Published: Jan 07, 2019 11:04 IST