123 Kolkata: While the mercury remained below the normal mark on Friday, the Met office indicated a slight rise from Saturday.
The minimum temperature at 13.2 degrees Celsius did not deviate from the previous day. While this was a notch below the normal mark, it could touch 14 degrees by Saturday.
Met officials said a western disturbance over the northwestern region will start to prevent the cold-bearing northwesterly wind from reaching Bengal from Saturday onwards. This, in turn, will push up the mercury.
"It will take three to four days for the western disturbance to pass, during which the mercury — both the minimum and maximum — will remain above the normal mark. The dip is likely to begin by mid-next week," said a Met official.
With a steady stream of the northwesterly wind coming in, the maximum temperature at 21.8 degrees Celsius was 3.3 degrees below the normal mark on Friday. The mercury dipped to the season's lowest at 12.5 degrees Celsius on Dec 15 before it started rising gradually. It reached as high as 19.2 degrees Celsius, close to five notches above the normal mark on Dec 26.