New Delhi, April 11 The national capital continued to see a rise in the minimum temperature on Saturday, with weather forecasts now suggesting that temperatures will rise over the next few days.
Safdarjung, the city's base station, recorded a minimum temperature of 18.6 degrees Celsius, 2.4 degrees below normal but 2.3 degrees above the previous day, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Other weather stations also recorded a significant increase in the minimum temperature.
Palam recorded a minimum of 19.5 degrees Celsius, 3.9 degrees above normal. Similarly, Lodhi Road recorded a minimum of 17.8 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees above normal.
Meanwhile, the IMD has forecast a minimum temperature of around 19-21 degrees Celsius by Sunday. The maximum temperature is likely to be around 34-36 degrees Celsius on Saturday and 35-37 degrees Celsius on Sunday.
The Met department has also forecast gusty winds with speeds of 10-20 kmph, possibly reaching 30 kmph, to continue throughout Saturday.
Meanwhile, the city's air quality index (AQI) saw further improvement on Saturday morning, recording a value of 126 (moderate) at 9 am, compared to the 24-hour average AQI of 151 (moderate) recorded at 4 pm on Friday.
According to CPCB standards, an AQI of 0-50 is considered 'good', 51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'moderate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'very poor', and 401-500 'severe'.
The Air Quality Early Warning System (AQEWS) for Delhi has forecast the AQI to remain in the moderate category for the next few days.