New Delhi: After all of sudden strong anti-cyclonic winds started blowing from Rajasthan that has caused ‘hazy’ conditions in Delhi and NCR region on Tuesday which resulted in visibility dipped the evening time while the air quality deteriorated to the ‘poor’ category for the first time in a week.
According to officials, the air quality which had been in the “moderate” category throughout the week, rose to 296 (poor)- a sharp rise from 177 (moderate) on Monday. Met officials said similar conditions are likely to persist over the next three days with dust suspension expected in the air too.
While Delhi saw strong surface winds during the day that touched 30-35 km/hr, the regional Met office said there was a largescale impact of the anti-cyclonic winds, adding that dusty conditions would continue in Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi and other parts of NCR over the next few days.
“The anticyclonic wind system has raised a lot of dust that is coming from Rajasthan and through Haryana all the way to Delhi. We expect very hazy conditions over the next few days due to the dust,” said Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist at the regional Met office.
Strong anti-cyclonic winds hits Delhi, worsen air quality in region:
The poor air quality showed a big spike on Tuesday with PM 10 levels crossing four times the safe standard in the evening and the PM 2.5 levels were recorded around two times the safe standards in Delhi.
The CPCB’s central control room recorded PM 10 levels to be around 433 micrograms per cubic metre at 8pm on Tuesday, while the PM 2.5 levels were 116 micrograms per cubic metre. The safe standards for both these ultrafine particles are 100 and 60 micrograms per cubic metre, respectively.
The maximum temperature was recorded at 41.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday-two degrees above normal, while the minimum was recorded at 30.5 degrees Celsius-three notches above normal.
Met officials said the weather is likely to cause the minimum temperature to rise even further over the next few days. “This activity will mainly lead to a rise in the minimum temperature that will touch 32 degrees Celsius and result in hot conditions during the day. The maximum, meanwhile, could be between 41 and 42 degrees Celsius,” said the official.
