New Delhi Jan 18 PTI Delhi reeled under very cold conditions as the mercury fell on Tuesday with parts of the city registering a drop in maximum temperature by even six notches below the normalThe minimum temperature settled at 85 degrees Celsius a notch above the normal according to official dataOn Monday morning too the Safdarjung Observatory had recorded almost a similar reading with 87 degrees Celsius two notches above the averageHowever the maximum temperature reading dipped in the evening as well making the weather even colder as people struggled to keep themselves warm in tough winter conditions that have prevailed over the last few daysThe Safdarjung Observatory whose reading is considered as the official marker for the city registered a high of 154 degrees Celsius on Tuesday four notches below the normalHowever at Palam Observatory the maximum temperature reading was 138 degrees Celsius six notches below the normal according to data shared by the India Meteorological Department IMDAt Lodhi Ayanagar and Ridge observatories the dip from the normal was five notches for maximum temperature readingsOn Monday the city had also shivered in biting cold as it had registered a high of 161 degrees Celsius four notches below the normalAs per the IMD when the minimum temperature is less than or equal to 10 deg C and maximum temperature is at least 45 deg C below the normal it is said to be a colddayThe relative humidity at 830 AM stood at 90 per cent while it was 77 per cent in the evening The weatherman has forecast shallow fog on Wednesday and the minimum and maximum temperatures are likely to hover around 11 degrees Celsius and 16 degrees Celsius respectivelyThe air quality index AQI of Delhi was recorded in the very poor category 339 in the morning and it remained in the same category 347 around 720 PM data from the Central Pollution Control Board showedThe AQI reading on Monday evening around 4 PM had also stood in the same categoryAnAQIbetween 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 PTI KND TIR TIR

New Delhi Nov 22 PTI Strong surface winds barrelled through Delhi and neighbouring areas on Monday improving the air quality The city recorded its 24-hour average air quality index at 311 down from 349 on Sunday It was 374 on Saturday Neighbouring Faridabad 330 Ghaziabad 254 Greater Noida 202 Gurgaon 310 and Noida 270 also recorded a slight improvement in the air quality R K Jenamani a senior scientist at the India Meteorological Department IMD said westerly winds gusting up to 25 kmph improved visibility to 3200 metres So far Monday has been the only day in November when the Palam Observatory reported visibility of more than 3000 m and such strong winds he said The Ministry of Earth Sciences air quality monitor SAFAR said the AQI was recorded in the lower end of the very poor category on Monday a significant improvement from the day before due to the low fire count and strong transport-level winds blowing from northwest direction dispersing pollutants These winds are likely to continue on Tuesday leading to further improvement in the air quality to the poor category if no increase in fire count it said Local surface wind speed is also relatively high on Monday and will remain so on Tuesday it said adding local and transport-level winds are likely to slow down from Wednesday and result in slight deterioration in the air quality SAFAR said 909 farm fires accounted for six per cent of Delhis PM25 pollution on Monday PTI GVS AAR

New Delhi Sep 23 PTI The minimum temperature in the national capital on Thursday settled at 247 degrees Celsius a notch above the seasons average and the weatherman has forecast light rain later in the day According to the India Meteorological Department IMD the relative humidity in the morning was recorded at 87 per cent The weather office predicted light rain for the day The city will see generally cloudy sky with with light rain and thundershowers an IMD official said According to IMD officials the rainfall at Safdarjung observatory of the city was nil in the 24 hours till 830 am on Thursday However 08 mm rain was recorded at the Palam observatory the weather office said Maximum temperature of the day is likely to hover around 32 degree Celsius the weather office said The maximum temperature on Wednesday was recorded at 318 degrees Celsius two notches below the seasons average while the minimum temperature stood at 26 degrees Celsius a notch above the average an IMD official said PTI AKM SMN SMN