Gurgaon: Residents woke up to a foggy morning on Tuesday as the city witnessed a drop in the minimum temperature owing to cold winds coming from snow-laden Himalayas.
The minimum temperature of the city was not recorded at the automatic weather station in Gurgaon on Tuesday, but the maximum temperature was recorded at 16.4°C. However, the minimum temperature was recorded at 5.5°C, down from Monday’s 8.3°C, at Ayanagar observatory, Delhi’s closest station to the city.
According to an IMD official, there is no relief in sight from the cold weather for the next two days as this condition will prevail in the region for two more days. The city will see dense-to-very dense fog conditions. “The minimum temperature will continue to remain at 4-6°C. The cold wave conditions are also expected in some places in the region for the next two days,” the official said.
According to weekly forecast, minimum temperature will hover around 7°C on Wednesday, while the maximum temperature will be around 18°C with dense fog in the morning hours. The sky will remain clear, but will become partly cloudy in afternoon and evening.
Meanwhile, the city air quality slipped to the “poor” category on Tuesday. The air quality index (AQI) was recorded at 213 on Tuesday, marginally down from 200 on the previous day. According to the weather department, the air quality will deteriorate in the morning hours as the wind speed is likely to come down.
Two of the four monitoring stations, including Vikas Sadan and Sector 51, showed AQI in the “poor” category, while it was “moderate” in Teri Gram. At Vikas Sadan, the index was 269, while it was 227 in Sector 51 and 170 in Teri Gram. The AQI at Gwalpahari was not recorded due to insufficient data.
Meanwhile, Delhi recorded moderate fog during morning hours, while the visibility dropped to 400 metres. The minimum temperature dipped to 4.3 degrees Celsius — three notches below normal — at Safdarjung, city’s base station. The maximum was 17.6 degrees Celsius, two degrees below normal.
Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist India Meteorological Department (IMD), and head, Regional Weather Forecasting Centre, said, “The cold north-westerly winds from hilly areas have led to drop in minimum temperature. The clear sky has also made the nights cooler.” A Met official said, the minimum temperature was likely to remain at 4 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.