Rain may mar New Year celebrations

Kolkata: Rain may dampen the spirit of New Year celebration in the city, with the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicting light to moderate showers from January 1-3.

According to the MeT office, various South Bengal districts are likely to receive rainfall. The temperature in the city, meanwhile, will drop in the next 48 hours, giving a feeling of shivering winter chill to people in the last week of 2019.

The weather office also said that the city's temperature may drop below 10 degree Celsius. The lowest temperature in the city dropped by 3 degree Celsius on Friday, to 12.6 degree Celsius. In the past 24 hours, the highest temperature in the city has remained around 20.3 degree Celsius, which is 6 degrees below normal.

The city's sky remained cloudy from the morning, while various North Bengal districts witnessed thick mist in the early morning hours, which disappeared as the day progressed.

There is a prediction of light rainfall in some of the South Bengal districts in the next 24 hours. The districts like North 24-Parganas, Nadia, South 24-Parganas and some others have received overnight rainfall on Thursday.

The MeT office has already issued cold wave alert to various South Bengal districts including the city, where a strong chilling wind would be sweeping through, particularly in the morning and evening hours.

The relative humidity in the city would remain around 60-90 percent in the next few days.

"A pressure trough which was formed over Bay of Bengal has led to an incursion of moisture into the state. The cold wind from north-west has been helping to form clouds after coming in contact with the wind which was coming from the Bay of Bengal side. It would bring more rainfall in the beginning of the new year," a senior weather official said.

It may be mentioned here that the lowest temperature in the city had jumped by almost 2 degrees on Thursday, due to the impact of low pressure and western disturbance.

The city's temperature on Thursday remained at 15.7 degree Celsius, which has started going down rapidly on Friday.