Kolkata shivers as maximum dips below 20°C for third time in a week
Times of India | 5 January 2026
Kolkata: Persistent fog and a steady cold wind kept the city shivering through the day, with the maximum temperature dipping to 19.2°C on Sunday. Dense fog narrowed the gap between the day's maximum and minimum temperatures to 4.3°C. This was the third time in a week that the maximum fell below 20°C, and the second time the max-min gap dropped below 5 degrees.
The Met office expects temperatures to dip further in the coming days, reviving cold conditions across Kolkata and much of south Bengal.
The city's maximum temperature plunged from 23.4°C on Saturday to 19.2°C, a drop of over four degrees. The minimum settled at 14.9°C, 0.9 notches above normal.
"The day temperature dipped as persistent fog kept the sun at bay for most of the day, narrowing the gap between day and night temperatures. The combination of fog and low cloud cover was caused by increased moisture levels," said Sourish Bandyopadhyay, meteorologist at the Regional Meteorological Centre.
A western disturbance over the north-western states slowed the advance of chill-bearing, dry north-westerly winds over the past couple of days. At the same time, a cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh triggered moisture incursion into the Gangetic belt, leading to low cloud formation or fog in different layers for nearly the entire day.
This winter, the max temperature fell to 18.2°C on Dec 29 — the lowest in over 15 years — plunging 7.2°C below normal due to similar fog conditions. With the minimum at 13.5°C, the gap between the two narrowed to 4.7°C, slightly higher than on Sunday.
Even as the maximum temperature rose gradually after Dec 30, it stayed below 20°C for a second straight day and touched the mark only on New Year's Eve. The minimum plunged to the season's low of 11°C on Dec 31, then climbed steadily, crossing the normal level on Sunday after 10 days below it. At 14.9°C, it was 0.9°C above normal.
Met officials said a western disturbance had weakened the north-westerly wind system over the past couple of days, but the chill-bearing winds began regaining strength from Sunday. While the maximum temperature is likely to hover around 20°C on Monday, the minimum is expected to fall to 13-14°C.
"The north-westerly wind system that lost momentum will start gaining strength. By Monday, we can expect shallow to moderate fog, but it will not be very prominent at the surface level. We can expect the mercury to start falling again," said Bandyopadhyay.