Cold wave sweeps Delhi, Mercury dips to 3.4 degree

“The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 20 degrees Celsius as the day is expected to be partly cloudy,” IMD said.

Earlier, the Met department had predicted that the minimum temperatures are likely to drop by 2 degrees centigrade to 4 degrees centigrade from Wednesday over most parts of North-West India.

The weather department predicted the minimum temperature will start increasing from January 4 under the influence of an active western disturbance which is very likely to cause fairly widespread rainfall and snowfall over Jammu and Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh between January 4 and 7.

Meanwhile, the air quality in the national capital remained in the “very poor” category, as the overall AQI level stood at 302.

“AQI today indicates ‘Very Poor’ air quality. Cold wave conditions continue to prevail in the north-west region and winds blowing from west/northwest direction affect the weather in Delhi,” according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR).

As per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR) the level of PM 2.5 and PM 10 in Delhi's air stood at 122 and 226, respectively.

Meanwhile, the air quality of neighbouring cities in the NCR region like Noida and Gurugram remains in the poor ' and in 'very poor' category respectively.

The AQI in Noida stands at 223, while in Gurugram the AQI is at 316.

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'.