Delhi weather: IMD forecasts heatwave till Saturday; AQI in ‘moderate’ category

NEW DELHI: Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of 25.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday, 2.7 degrees above the seasonal average, according to the India Meteorological Department. The weather office has forecast a heatwave over the next three days—Thursday, Friday and Saturday—with the maximum temperature likely to hover around 42 degrees Celsius, accordinf to news agency PTI. A heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature departs by 4.5 to 6.4 degrees Celsius from normal, or when the actual temperature crosses the 45-degree Celsius mark. At 9 am on Thursday, the city’s air quality was recorded in the ‘moderate’ category, with an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 191, as per data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The CPCB classifies an AQI between zero and 50 as ‘good’, 51 to 100 as ‘satisfactory’, 101 to 200 as ‘moderate’, 201 to 300 as ‘poor’, 301 to 400 as ‘very poor’, and 401 to 500 as ‘severe’.