At 13.5 degree Celsius, city logs coldest day of season so far

Kolkata: Kolkata has registered lowest temperature of the season at 13.5 degree Celsius on Saturday which was 2 degree below normal and the mercury may slide down further in the next couple of days. The lowest temperature in the city on Friday stood at 14.2 degree.

According to the MeT office prediction, mercury may slide down below 13 degree Celsius in the city in the beginning of next week and there will be a steady flow of cold northern wind. The highest temperature of the city remained at 25.8 degree Celsius on Saturday which was 1 degree below normal. The temperature will further plunge down during the night hours.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore said that various south Bengal districts have been witnessing foggy weather in the morning for the last couple of days and the situation may continue in the next few days as well. Mercury has already hit below 11 degree Celsius in some of the western parts of the state. Temperature in Panagarh in West Burdwan in Santiniketan in Birbhum and in Purulia has been hovering around 10-11 degrees Celsius.

Temperature in various northern states also dropped by almost 5 degrees after snowfall occurred in Jammu Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh. In Bengal the average highest temperature remained at around 26 degree while the lowest average temperature in December so far stood at around 13 degree Celsius. During the last year the average lowest temperature remained at around 18 degree Celsius and the highest temperature at around 26 degree Celsius same as this year.

The MeT office also predicted that a cold wave may sweep through various South Bengal districts like East and West Burdwan, Purulia and Birbhum towards the end of the week. Last year, the temperature was recorded at 5 degree Celsius in Panagarh of West Burdwan and 7 degree Celsius in Purulia.

Bengal may witness a similar situation this year owing to La Nina which is expected to blow over east and north India between December this year and February next year, experts said. La Nina is a weather pattern that occurs in the Pacific Ocean under the impact of which strong winds blow from warm water at the ocean's surface from South America to Indonesia. It brings cold air to the Indian sub-continent from Siberia and South China.