|
|
The extended run of woollens is nearing its end
|
The chill is set to bid Calcutta adieu by the weekend but the weatherman is not yet ruling out a comeback this season.
“We are expecting a rise in temperature. The minimum should be around 12 degrees Celsius on Thursday and then rise to reach 14 to 15 degrees by Friday,” said a senior official of the India Meteorological Department, Calcutta, on Wednesday.
The minimum temperature on Wednesday was 11.6 degrees Celsius, up almost a degree since Tuesday, but still three degrees below normal.
End-January has been unusually cold this year with the minimum temperature remaining below normal for nine days at a stretch and dipping to 10.7 degrees Celsius on Tuesday to set a 20-year record for the period between January 25 and 31.
“Free flow of the northwesterly wind has made it so cold so far. But now a cloud mass has formed over Rajasthan, which is interfering with the flow. The northwesterly is being replaced by an easterly wind that is entering the city after blowing over the Bay of Bengal. This is leading to an increase in the moisture content in air, which is also hindering the flow of the cool northwesterly,” said the weatherman.
Satellite pictures also show clouds over parts of Jammu and Kashmir and north Gujarat.
“Last night, it was chilly. I don’t remember it being so cold at the fag end of January in Calcutta but obviously such luck can’t last forever,” a woman was heard telling a friend on Metro on Wednesday.
The luck has started running out.
Along with the minimum, the maximum also went up from 25.9 to 26.2 degrees Celsius, a notch under normal, on Wednesday. The weatherman predicted cloud cover over the city on Thursday because of the moisture incursion but there was no forecast for rain.
|
