Weather Update: Delhi sees slight improvement in air quality, temp likely to drop to...

Delhi saw a slight improvement in air quality on Tuesday with AQI reading at 296 (poor), while temperatures are expected to drop to 5 degrees Celsius in the coming days, officials said.

According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the AQI in the national capital had remained in the "very poor" category for the past week.

On Monday, the AQI was recorded at 335 in the "very poor" category.

Meanwhile, the weather department's 7-day forecast indicates that from Wednesday, the minimum temperature will start dipping, and by Friday, it is expected to drop to 5 degrees Celsius.

The Safdarjung observatory, Delhi's primary weather station, recorded a maximum temperature of 16.2 degrees Celsius, 2.8 notches above normal.

The minimum temperature stood at 10.5 degrees Celsius, 3.6 notches above the normal, with relative humidity ranging between 87 and 92 per cent during the day, the IMD said.

Thick fog blanketed Delhi during the early hours, reducing visibility to 150 metres and delaying 25 trains.

"Minimum visibility of 150 metres in dense fog with northwesterly winds at 11-13 kmph was reported over Palam between 5 and 5:30 am, gradually improving to 700 metres in shallow fog with westerly winds at 13 kmph by 8:30 am," IMD said.

At Safdarjung, the minimum visibility was recorded at 500 metres, the IMD added.

The weather office has predicted mainly clear skies with cold day conditions at isolated places. Smog or moderate fog is expected in most places with dense fog likely in isolated areas in the morning.

Additionally, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Sunday revoked curbs under Stage 3 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) in Delhi-NCR after the region witnessed a dip in air pollution levels owing to favourable meteorological conditions, especially improved wind speed.

However, restrictions under Stage 1 and Stage 2 of GRAP remain in place across Delhi-NCR.

An AQI between 0 and 50 is considered ‘good', 51-100 ‘satisfactory', 101-200 ‘moderate', 201-300 ‘poor', 301-400 ‘very poor', and 401-500 ‘severe'.