Kolkata: The mercury in Kolkata continued to hover slightly below the normal mark even as it was the second fortnight of Feb. The Met office predicts no change in the weather in the next three to four days, but expects a marginal rise in the middle of the week. At present, there is no weather system that would push up the mercury abruptly.
At 29.3°C the maximum temperature on Sunday was 0.7 notches below normal, while the minimum temperature at 16.3°C was also below normal by 1.9 notches. This was the second time this month for the maximum temperature to touch close to 30°C.
"We do not expect any significant change in either the day or night temperatures in the next two to three days, as both are expected to continue hovering around the normal or slightly below normal. A gradual and slight increase is likely by the second half of this week," said meteorologist HR Biswas, head at the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.
In the first fortnight of the month, the maximum temperature stayed below normal for 13 days, while the minimum temperature breached the normal mark only once, on Feb 4. Met officials said that, unlike monsoon, which has defined arrival and departure dates, winter had no such criteria. However, they said climatologically the mercury generally started rising by around mid-Feb, with the humidity factor making the weather uncomfortable by the month end.
While the warm and moist easterly or south-easterly wind from the Bay of Bengal was responsible for pushing up the humidity level, the dry and cold northerly or north-westerly wind could push down the mercury.