Season’s coldest day in Kolkata as minimum temp dips below 18°C
Times of India | 25 November 2024
123 Kolkata: The mercury dipped to the season's lowest on Sunday, even as Kolkata felt the first shivers of winter chill. The minimum temperature clocked 17.6°C after hovering around 18°C-19°C for the last five to six days. Last Tuesday, the mercury plunged to 18°C, which was the lowest until Sunday.
An unobstructed flow of dry, chilly northwesterly wind from the northwesterly hills triggered a gradual drop in temperature, said the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC).IPL 2025 mega auctionIPL Auction 2025 Live: KKR break bank for Venkatesh Iyer, Ashwin returns to CSKIPL 2025 Auction LIVE: Updated Full Team SquadsIPL Auction 2025: Who got whomIt predicted that the minimum temperature would continue to hover between 17°C-19°C for the next two days. "It could slide marginally to 17°C on Monday and then rise again to 19°C. But it will remain below 20°C for now," said RMC weather scientist H R Biswas.
He added that a low-pressure area now brewing far away from the east coast may impact the weather after Nov 27. "It is now taking shape deep into the Indian Ocean. It may approach the Andhra-Tamil Nadu coast. Depending on its intensity and movement, there could be an impact in the form of clouds floating in. But it is still too early to predict the impact on south Bengal," said Biswas.
The mercury dipped below 20°C for the first time this season in Kolkata on Nov 16, when the minimum temperature slid to 19.3°C, a notch below normal. It continued its downward slide and dropped to 18°C last Monday. The maximum temperature, too, started dipping and settled at 28.7°C last Saturday. On Sunday, the maximum clocked 26.9°C, two degrees below normal.
While it is unlikely to drop below the 18°C mark immediately, the minimum temperature could remain below 20°C for some time until the northwesterly gains further strength and the mercury sees a sharper slide, probably by early Dec. It is the northwesterly that pulls down the temperature in the region, and the more unobstructed it flows, the lower the temperature is likely to be. But the northwesterly usually doesn't have a significant impact before the end of November. It has been flowing in since early last week, though.
"Initially, it was not active at all levels of the atmosphere, which is necessary for a temperature drop. The city remained partially cloudy around 10 days ago, and there was intermittent fog due to the incursion of south-easterly winds. Since there was moisture in the air then, the mercury refused to drop. But over the last week, it has been dipping very slowly and will touch 20°C in a few days," added Biswas.