El Nino impact: Jan records only four sub-13°C days
Times of India | 1 August 2024
Kolkata: Despite the mid-month temperature plunge, Jan 2024 saw only four days of sub-13°C temperatures due to the effects of El Niño in the Pacific Ocean that leads to western disturbances triggering clouds and pushing the mercury up. Most years in the last two decades saw five to 19 days of below-13° temperature.
Between 2004 and 2024, the minimum temperature dropped below 13° Celsius in Jan for a monthly total of 10 days or more on eight different years.There have been 15 years in this period where the temperature was below 13° Celsius for more than five days.
Fourteen degrees Celsius is considered the normal minimum temperature for Kolkata in Jan, hence the 13° Celsius marks a departure as below normal. In first week of December, IMD stated that the onset of winter may be delayed this season and the temperatures may be above normal between December and February due to the effects of El Niño, the warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. “The minimum temperature fell to its lowest at 11.8° Celsius this year, which is fairly normal when compared to recent years. However, the number of chilly days has been noticeably fewer and this can be attributed to the El Niño effect,” said RMC director G K Das.
The highest number of sub-13° Celsius days in Jan in any year was in 2018 with 19 such days, followed by 2010, which had 18 such days. The hottest Jan in recent years has been 2005, 2009 and 2021, each with only two days with sub-13° Celsius temperatures. The lowest minimum temperature recorded in the last two decades was 9° Celsius in 2013.
“Since the temperature has been above normal for most of January, there is a fair chance that the minimum temperature may stay low until the middle of February. After a temporary increase reaching up to 16° or 17° Celsius, while transitioning between the months, the minimum temperature may fall to around 13° or 14° Celsius again,” added Das. Typically, Feb features higher temperatures than Jan, as it is succeeds peak-winter.
Despite the infrequency of below normal minimum temperature in Jan, maximum temperature was three to four notches below normal in the second half of the month, adding to the chill factor in the city. Last Monday, the maximum temperature fell to 19.8° Celsius, six notches below normal. The maximum temperature remained between 22 and 24° Celsius for most of last week.