Winter-starved city’s Mercury to dip slightly today

The temperature of the city will decrease slightly on Wednesday, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Kolkata said.

On Tuesday, the RMC recorded the maximum temperature at 28.6 degrees Celsius which was 0.03 degrees Celsius above the normal temperature. The minimum temperature, recorded by the RMC was 17.8 degrees Celsius, which was 0.04 degrees Celsius above of the normal temperature.

However, the RMC Kolkata predicted a slight dip in the mercury on Wednesday. But this chill will only last till Thursday. Although winter season has arrived in Kolkata, the temperature will be hovering around 14.5 – 15 degrees Celsius. The chill will be felt in the air.

“The reason of the winter is North-westerly winds. These are prevailing winds from the west toward the east in the middle latitudes between 30 and 60 degreess latitude. 

They originate from the high-pressure areas in the horse latitudes and tend towards the poles and steer extra-tropical cyclones in this general manner,” said Ganesh Kumar Das, Director, RMC Kolkata.

“This North-westerly winds was missing for some days. But we can now get a sign of North-westerly winds. The temperature will decrease from Wednesday,” Das said.

“We generally do not declare the winter season. We only declare the winter month. Sometimes, easterly winds block the winter from coming in. It increases the moisture in the air. But I think that non availability of North-westerly winds caused the undue increase in temperature,” Das said.

Kolkata witnessed one of the hottest Christmas on Sunday. People brought woollen garments, leather jacket, and other winter-wears, but they only served to cause discomfort.

But the situation was not like this a few weeks ago. On one Saturday, it was 12.6 degrees Celsius temperature in Kolkata which was less than normal. The icy North-westerly wind which was 

blowing into the city from the Himalayas, further lowered the temperature.