New Delhi

The minimum temperature in the national capital dipped to 6.2 degrees Celsius on Tuesday morning under the impact of a cold wave.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a minimum temperature of 6.2 degrees Celsius was recorded at 8.30 a.m. at the Safdarjung observatory with a relative humidity of 95 per cent.

The IMD says that a cold day is when the minimum temperature of a station is less than equal to 10 degrees Celsius for plains and less than equal to 0 degree Celsius for hilly areas. The maximum temperature on a 'cold day' should be at least 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius below normal.

The maximum temperature is likely to hover around 16 degrees Celsius. On Tuesday morning, Delhi reeled under shallow to moderate fog that partially disrupted traffic at several places due to low visibility.

The visibility at the Palam observatory was 50 metres while it was 200 metres at Safdarjung. As per IMD, the visibility, in general, is above 1000 m over North India.

Cold wind was blowing in the eastern direction at a speed of 9.3 km per hour.

In the past 24 hours, the maximum temperature was recorded at 14.8 degrees Celsius, seven degrees below the normal. The IMD has predicted a partly cloudy sky for Tuesday. The weather agency further said that cold day conditions will be at most of the places of the Delhi-NCR while isolated places are likely to witness severe cold day conditions.

The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 156 for PM10 and 95 for PM2.5.

As the PM10 was on a high scale, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) has issued a moderate health advisory stating that sensitive people should consider reducing prolonged or heavy exertion and heavy outdoor work.

"Air quality is acceptable for the general public, but moderate health concern for sensitive people," it said.

The PM2.5 level was under the 'poor' category. Usually, the air quality is categorised as 'good' when the AQI is between 0 to 50; 'satisfactory' between 51-100; 'moderate' between 101-200; 'poor' between 201-300; 'very poor' between 301-400; 'severe' between 401-500; and 'hazardous' at over 500.