123 Kolkata: Despite a prediction for a slight dip in the mercury on New Year's Eve, 2024 is expected to end on a warmer note. Both the maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to hover above the normal mark on Tuesday and dip slightly on Wednesday to reach the normal mark.
At 17.6˚C, the minimum temperature on Monday was 3.8 degrees above the normal mark, while the maximum temperature of 26.2˚C was 0.8 degrees higher than normal. The Met office has predicted the minimum temperature to hover around 16 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, while no significant change is expected in the maximum temperature.
"Even as the cold-bearing northwesterly wind may start breezing in from Tuesday, another western disturbance likely to develop over the northwestern region is going to prevent the mercury from dipping significantly for now," said H R Biswas, head of the weather section at Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata.
The mercury could dip a bit further to 15 degrees on New Year's Day, which will be above normal. Another western disturbance likely to form by Jan 1 will block the northwesterly wind from reaching Kolkata and the rest of Bengal. Even as this will have no direct impact, like triggering rain in Kolkata, its indirect consequence will be a slight rise in mercury in the first week of Jan. The mercury dipped to 12.5°C on Dec 15, the lowest this winter, before it started rising from the next day. Two back-to-back western disturbances in past two weeks prevented it from falling.