Kolkata records coldest day at 11.5°, mercury to dip further

Kolkata: The mercury in the city on Thursday plunged to 11.5 degree Celsius making it the coldest day of the season so far.

"The minimum temperature may touch 10 degree Celsius in the next few days. A cold wave condition may prevail in some districts as well. The winter chill has intensified due to the uninterrupted flow of northwesterly, bringing in the cold wave to the South Bengal districts," said a senior official of the Regional Meteorological Centre.

The Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore also predicted that the city and some South Bengal districts may witness light drizzle in the next 48 hours, complicating the situation further. It was also stated that the visibility would considerably reduce in several parts of the South Bengal districts, particularly during the morning hours due to mist.

According to the Met office, the city on Thursday experienced the coldest day in the last four years and the temperature may further go down in the next couple of days.

It may hover around 10-11 degree Celsius by the end of this month, while in some districts it may further go down.

On Wednesday, the city's temperature remained at 12

degree Celsius. In some parts of North Bengal, the sky may remain cloudy for the next few days, particularly in the morning hours. As it has been predicted some districts in North Bengal may also receive light drizzle in the next two days.

The weather condition is least likely to improve in the remaining days of the

current month. The cold has been more intense in north Bengal with Darjeeling touching 2 degree Celsius on Thursday, while Jalpaiguri recorded 9.6 degree Celsius and Malda 12. The minimum temperature dipped to 7.7 degree Celsius in Sriniketan, 10 degree in Bankura and East Burdwan each. The mercury plummeted to around 10.6 degree Celsius in Nadia. The temperature is going down as the northwesterly that brings the cold wave got intensified. After low pressure trough over Bay-of-Bengal got cleared last week, the mercury started dipping, a weather official said.