Min temp dips below normal after more than a fortnight but winter is not yet here
Times of India | 5 November 2025
Kolkata: The minimum temperature in Kolkata slipped below the normal mark on Tuesday after more than a fortnight. While Tuesday's 21.4°C was only 0.8 notches below the normal mark, this is the lowest minimum in months.
The Met office, however, has ruled out any further mercury dip in the next few days, indicating that Kolkata will have to wait a few more days to feel the nip in the air. A further dip is expected only when the sky becomes clear of the partial cloud cover.
Even as the maximum temperature has been below the normal mark for the past three consecutive days, the minimum temperature has been higher than the normal mark consistently since Oct 18.
It refused to dip below the normal even after the sharp spell brought in by severe cyclone ‘Montha' last week.
"While the dip is not very significant, this kind of gradual climbdown was expected as this is quite normal because we are already in Nov. But any further significant dip is unlikely for at least three to four days. It is likely to hover between 21°C and 23°C," said Regional Meteorological Centre (Kolkata) head HR Biswas.
On the same day last year, the Alipore Met office recorded a minimum temperature of 24.8°C in Kolkata, while in 2023, it was 23.7°C. The only two occasions in the past decade when the minimum temperature dipped below normal on Nov 4 were in 2022 and 2021, when the city recorded 20.7°C and 20.8°C, respectively.
On Tuesday, the city remained partly cloudy for the entire day. The Met officials said that clouds from the outer band of a low-pressure area that persists over south Bangladesh coast and neighbouring Myanmar have reached the city sky.
While this cloud mass is not potent enough to trigger rain, Kolkata is likely to be partly under its spell on Wednesday as well.
"The partly cloudy sky is a temporary impact of the low-pressure area as some cloud mass from the outer band of the system is reaching the upper level over Kolkata and some other districts. The sky will remain partly cloudy on Wednesday," added Biswas.
The maximum temperature has been bang on 30°C, which is 1.1 notches below the normal mark. The Met office said currently there was no weather system that would impede the gradual progression towards the winter days.
"While the weather will remain pleasant, we have to wait for the cold feeling. It will happen once the mercury dips significantly in northern India and cold-bearing northwesterly wind gushes in," said a Met scientist.