At 10.2°C, Kol records lowest min in 13 yrs; max too hits season’s lowest
Times of India | 7 January 2026
Kolkata: The city got chillier, with the mercury plummeting to 10.2°C — Jan's coldest in 13 years in the city — on Tuesday. The maximum temperature, at 18°C, was also the season's lowest. You can expect more such days this week, with Met officials predicting the minimum to hover between 10°C and 11°C for the next few days. The maximum temperature is likely to swing between 19°C and 20°C.
In neighbouring Dum Dum and Howrah, the mercury plunged below 10°C, where the Met office recorded minimum temperatures of 9.5°C and 9°C, respectively. In Salt Lake, it was 10.4°C.
"Tuesday's minimum temperature was the lowest in 13 years. A low-pressure system over the Bay of Bengal, which is transforming into a depression, strengthened the dry and north-westerly wind speed at the lower level. This, in turn, pushed the mercury down further. We expect this cold spell to stay for now," said Met scientist HR Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.
The Met officials said that the depression was over the Bay of Bengal and, as of Tuesday, it was at a distance of around 2,000 km from the city. Hence, this system will not trigger any rain but its impact will be only in large-scale wind pattern change.
Before Tuesday, in the past 13 years, the minimum temperature dipped to the 10°C mark thrice in Jan: 10.9°C in 2023 and 10.5°C in 2018. Last year, 12.3°C on Jan 11 was the lowest, while in 2024, it stood at 11.8°C. The all-time record for Jan is 6.7°C, which was on Jan 20, 1899.
While 10.2°Cwas 3.7 notches lower than the normal mark, the maximum temperature at 18°C was 6.7 notches below normal. The last time this parameter dipped to 18.2°C was on Dec 29, 2025. The persistent foggy layer that kept the sun at bay also ensured the chill stayed during the day.
Parts of other south Bengal districts also shivered, with the Met office recording 6.2°C in Sriniketan, the lowest for the day in the plains of south Bengal. Darjeeling recorded a near-freezing temperature of 1.5°C. The Met office has predicted cold-wave conditions in isolated pockets in Birbhum and Burdwan for Wednesday.
"The fog conditions will continue, including in Kolkata, albeit with a slight improvement. For Kolkata, the minimum temperature will hover around the 10°C to 12°C mark for the next few days, while we expect the maximum to swing between 19°C and 22°C. But overall, the cold conditions will stay, as both the temperature parameters will remain below the normal mark for now," added Biswas.