The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said cold northwesterly winds were expected to persist on Thursday, with the minimum staying around 8°C.

An air quality index (AQI) of 333 (very poor) was recorded at 9am on Wednesday. It was 353 (very poor) at 4pm on Tuesday and 382 on Monday. The AQI improved thanks to higher wind speeds during the day.

The air quality is expected to remain “very poor” with Wednesday being the 21st straight day, when the AQI has been 300 or higher. Delhi logged 21 such consecutive days between November 2 to 22, 2022. Another such 21-day streak was recorded from January 11 to 31, 2024.

The longest streak of such days was last year, with 32 straight days of 300+ AQI between October 30 and November 30. This included a peak of 494 (severe) AQI on November 18. The second-longest streak of such days of 23 was between December 17, 2018, and January 8, 2019.

Meteorological conditions are unlikely to change in the coming days. A reprieve from “very poor” AQI is unlikely until at least November 28. Delhi is on course to be the second-longest such streak for the time being.

“Delhi’s air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ category from November 26 to 28. The outlook for the subsequent six days shows the air quality is likely to be between the ‘severe’ to ‘very poor’ categories,” said the Air Quality Early Warning System for Delhi in its daily bulletin on Tuesday.