Kolkata: Celsius plunges four degrees in three days, Met office predicts a colder Friday
Telegraph | 4 January 2025
The Celsius plunged to 13.2 degrees on Thursday from 17.6 on Monday, as cold northwesterly winds tightened their grip on the city.
The minimum temperature was a notch below normal. At 21.6 degrees, the maximum was almost four notches below normal.
The Met office has predicted a colder Friday.
“The dry and cold northwesterly and northerly winds have free access to south Bengal. They are now dominant in the atmosphere,” said a Met official.
People felt the chill because the day temperature was on the lower side, he said.
The effect of the minimum temperature, usually recorded just before sunrise, lasts for a few hours when most of the city is asleep. But the day temperature has more impact because its effect lingers for a longer duration when people are up and running.
Calcuttans did not need the Met readings to feel the chill.
Kajari Bhattacharya, a schoolteacher in Tollygunge, had to leave home at 7.30am on Thursday. She was headed for her workplace, a private school in Behala that reopened on Thursday after the winter break.
“I took a bus and sat beside the window. I had to ask the conductor to shut the window because the winds were biting cold,” said Bhattacharya, who was wrapped in woollens and wore a muffler around her head.
By the evening, small fires had been lit at several places across the city as people looked for a touch of warmth.
If Calcutta was cold, the districts were colder.
The minimum temperature dropped below 10 degrees at several places, including Bankura, Purulia, West Burdwan and Asansol.
Closer home, Dum Dum recorded a minimum of 12.4 degrees and Uluberia in Howrah recorded a minimum of 11 degrees.
The minimum temperature in Calcutta was in the 12-14 degrees range between December 12 and 16, before starting to go up again. In Calcutta, December 15 has been the coldest day of the season so far, with a minimum of 12.5 degrees.
The second spell of chill in Calcutta began on New Year’s Day.
Multiple Western Disturbances have kept the Celsius on the higher side this winter.
Another is brewing on the northwestern borders of the country, the Met office said.
“A fresh Western Disturbance is likely to set in over northwestern India on Saturday. As it moves from west to east, the system will again send moisture into the atmosphere. The weekend will see the Celsius rising. But once the system is gone, the chill will return,” said the Met official.