Delhi temperature to touch 40ºC as air quality remains in 'very poor' category

Delhi's air quality was in the very poor category due to partly cloudy weather and a maximum temperature of 40 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning. 

Following the Central Pollution Control Board, the hourly Air Quality Index was 337 at 7 am on Wednesday. The average 24 hour AQI on Tuesday was 214, putting it in the poor category. An AQI of zero to fifty is considered good, 51 to one hundred satisfactory, 101 to two hundred moderate, 201 to 300 poor, 301 to 400 very poor, and 401 to 500 severe.

As per India Meteorological Department, the minimum temperature on Wednesday is expected to be 24 degrees Celsius, up from 20.4 degrees Celsius, or seven degrees below normal, the day before. On Tuesday, the high temperature was 39.4 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.

On Monday, an intense rainstorm with wind speeds reaching 100 km/h hit Delhi, lowering the temperature.

According to data from the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi's air quality in May this year was the worst in three years. The lack of rainfall in the first half of the month, according to experts, is to blame for the poor air quality. According to the India Meteorological Department, the city received only 1.4 mm of rain from May 1 to May 20.

This year, Delhi had an average air quality index of 212, compared to 144 in 2021 and 143 in 2020. In 2022, there were 21 days of "poor" air quality, compared to three in 2021 and just two in 2020.

This time, the capital had only one day of "satisfactory" air quality, compared to six in 2021 and four in 2020. The number of "moderate" air quality days has decreased to nine from 22 last year.

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