It was the coldest November night in 17 years as the minimum temperature in the Capital dropped to 6.9 degrees Celsius — four degrees under the normal for the season — on Sunday.
In November 2003, the mercury had dropped to 6.1 degrees Celsius. The Capital recorded a minimum of 7.5 degrees Celsius on Friday, which was the lowest in the month in 14 years, the Met said.
It added that November has consistently seen temperatures below average due to the absence of cloud cover. Also, over the past few days, icy cold winds from the Himalayas have been blowing towards the city.
However, under the influence of a Western Disturbance, the minimum is not likely to go down further and will rise to settle around 10 degrees Celsius, the Met said.
The maximum temperature settled at 24.2, which was also two degrees below normal for the season. Partly cloudy sky is forecast for the coming days with mist in the morning.
October this year was the coldest in 58 years as the mean minimum temperature was 17.2 degrees Celsius, the lowest since 1962, when it was 16.9 degrees Celsius. The all-time record for the lowest minimum temperature in November is 3.9 degrees Celsius recorded on November 28, 1938.
The air quality in the Capital remained in the “poor category” with an AQI of 274 based on data from 36 monitoring stations over a period of 24 hours. Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziaband, Faridabad and Gurugram also remained in the “poor category”.
According to the Ministry of Earth Sciences’ air quality monitor, SAFAR, the effective stubble fire counts with sufficient potential estimated from SAFAR-multi-satellite products has decreased and are around 649. “Stubble burning share in PM2.5 in Delhi’s air is estimated as 12% for Sunday. Winds are forecast to slow down and low ventilation is forecast for November 23 and 24,” the bulletin said. SAFAR said the AQI is likely to deteriorate to the middle end of “very poor” category by November 23 and is likely to further deteriorate to the high end of “very poor” by Nov. 24.
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”.