New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: Giving a respite from the chilling weather conditions, the minimum temperature in the national capital settled relatively higher at 7.6 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also said that the minimum temperature is also expected to increase slightly over the next two days due to the influence of a fresh Western Disturbance.
"A fresh Western Disturbance will start affecting the Western Himalayan region Friday onwards. As a result, the minimum temperature in Delhi is likely to increase slightly," an IMD official said.
According to the IMD, the Western Disturbance will lead to widespread snowfall in the upper hills of the Western Himalayas. The IMD also said that cold and dry winds from the snow-capped mountains will bring the temperature down to 4 degrees Celsius by Monday.
The IMD also said that dense fog is expected to prevail at isolated places over North and Central India. On Thursday, moderate fog was reported over Delhi, Haryana, parts of East Uttar Pradesh and Bihar at 5:30 am. The visibility in Amritsar, Bahraich and Siliguri was recorded at 25 metres each, while Patiala, Sultanpur, Bhagalpur and Malda at 50 metres each. Visibility in Gorakhpur and Patna remained at 200 metres each, while in Delhi, the visibility was recorded at 500 metres.
Meanwhile, as per the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality in the national capital on Thursday remained in the 'very poor' category and was recorded at 304 at 9 am. The city's 24-hour AQI was 283 on Wednesday, 404 on Tuesday, 372 on Monday and 347 on Sunday. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has said that the city's air quality is predicted to improve slightly as the wind speed picks up.