Cold day in Delhi; maximum temperature settles at 18.1 deg C

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Delhiites experienced a cold Friday with the maximum temperature settling five notches below the season's average at 18.1 degrees Celsius.

The national capital witnessed a cloudy morning and its minimum temperature was recorded at 10.4 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

Humidity levels in the city oscillated between 62 per cent and 97 per cent, it said.

The weather office has predicted partly cloudy skies for Saturday with moderate to dense fog in the morning. It also issued a yellow alert for Saturday, and said the city is like to receive very light rain or thundershowers on February 9.

The maximum and the minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 19 degrees Celsius and six degrees Celsius respectively, it added.

Delhi's air quality improved a bit due to the rains on Thursday. The 24-hour air quality index (AQI) read 152, which falls in the 'moderate' category. The AQI was in the 'poor' category in the morning.

The AQI of neighbouring Faridabad (171), Ghaziabad (122) Greater Noida (120), Gurugram (174) and Noida (117) was also recorded in the 'moderate' category.

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'.

On Thursday, the city saw its maximum temperature going down by eight notches to 14.4 degrees Celsius, the coldest for the month in 19 years. PTI SLB IJT IJT