Delhi woke up to a bone-chilling morning on Tuesday after breaking the 119-year record of the coldest December day on Monday with the day temperature “unusually” sticking to the lower side. The minimum temperature recorded at 8.00 a.m. on Tuesday morning was 5 degrees Celsius. Though engulfed in fog, the visibility appeared to be better than Monday morning, with sight of Sun. The Air Quality has also improved in the national capital, however marginally, with Anand Vihar which is capital’s most polluted zone, witnessing AQI of 372. Meanwhile, the IMD has predicted rain in Delhi-NCR on January 1 and January 3 night.
Earlier on Monday, the IMD had predicted: “It may be noted that at the Safdarjung Observatory, in the last 118 years (since 1901) the lowest maximum day temperature recorded was 11.3 degrees Celsius on December 28, 1997. It may be broken today (Monday) in the next 3 hours.” By the end of the day on Monday, Delhi recorded its coldest day since 1901, with the maximum temperature plummeting to 9.4 degress C.
The unprecedented cold wave condition is likely to continue over to the new year, said IMD officials. Meanwhile, the air quality index (AQI) in the capital on Monday was 449 with particulate matter (PM) 2.5, the Met officials said.