MeT: Full-fledged winter to set in from Dec first week

Kolkata: Mercury continues to slide down as Kolkata on Monday registered the lowest temperature of the day at 18.8 degree Celsius, which was 1.1 degree below normal.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicted that the full-fledged winter will, however, set in from the first week of December. The city dwellers will witness comparatively cold weather during the early morning and late evening hours. Kolkata on Saturday registered its lowest temperature of the day at 19.3 degree Celsius, a slight drop from Friday’s lowest temperature of 20°C.

Lowest temperature dropped below 14 degree Celsius in several parts of western districts. The lowest temperature in Purulia dropped to 12.7 degrees on Monday which was lower than the temperature in Kalimpong in North Bengal. The lowest temperature was registered at 14.5 degree Celsius on Monday. The hilly region of Darjeeling recorded the lowest temperature at 8.4 degree. Birbhum’s Sriniketan registered the lowest temperature of the day at 13 degree Celius and Jhargram 14.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the winter will be harsh this year due to the impact of La Niña. The IMD pointed out that the onset of the La Niña phenomenon was expected to cause a significant drop in temperatures and increased rainfall across the country. La Niña, the cooler counterpart to El Niño, is characterised by lower sea surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific, leading to widespread climate effects, including colder and harsher winters.

The MeT office said that several South Bengal districts will witness fog in the morning in the next few days. There is no prediction of rainfall in the next couple of days.

There will be no major changes in the lowest temperature in the South Bengal districts in the next couple of days.

The districts like Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur will witness dense fog in the early morning hours.