Kolkata: The city will experience a minimum temperature of 15°C on Tuesday but the temperature will continue to dip below the normal from February 6 and thereafter, will be the lowest for the next two days, predicted the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore on Monday. So, the last leg of winter may not be over yet.
Although the city has been under the winter spell for the last three months, it may not wake up to a chilly winter Saraswati puja morning this year. "The minimum temperature on the day of Saraswati Puja should be 15 or 16 °C, which is normal or at least near normal. It will not be very cold like last year," said deputy director general of Regional Meteorological Centre Sanjib Bandyopadhyay.
The West has been experiencing a nail-biting cold weather phenomenon called 'The Polar Vortex', with the national lowest temperature of the United States being -48°C in places, including Chicago and Illinois, during the cold streak.
As its name suggests, the polar vortex, which is found around the North Pole, is a band of strong winds, high up in the atmosphere that keeps bitterly cold air locked around the Arctic region. This circulation has shifted towards the United States, resulting in historical low temperatures.
This cold weather condition has left the United States in jitters, with at least 20 deaths so far, including a man who froze to death in Wisconsin.
Speaking about the polar vortex, Bandyopadhyay said: "This is not the first time that such a weather condition is occurring in the U.S. It is related to the temperature, rather than the climate in general. It is a phenomenon which has occurred suddenly but it is not here to stay."
He added: "But Kolkata can breathe a sigh of relief as our country is immune to such freak weather
conditions." So the City of Joy can continue its Vasant Panchami preparations in full swing as spring is just a week away.