The minimum temperature dropped to 12.6° Celsius in Calcutta on Tuesday, the lowest so far this season.
But the difference was made — like the day before — by the maximum temperature of 19.6°, six degrees below normal. This meant the day remained unusually cold. Most of it was windy.
The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 13 and 21° on the last day of the year. On January 1, both are likely to rise but marginally.
A shallow blanket of fog enveloped the city and adjoining areas on Tuesday morning. The sun came out earlier than it did on Monday. But it did not have any pronounced effect. The weather was pleasant when the sun was overhead in the afternoon. But a warm layer of clothing was still necessary.
A cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh, which was active on Monday, has now weakened considerably. That caused a marginal drop in the moisture incursion. The minimum relative humidity was still high at 61% but had dropped from 71% the day before.
People with the mask Bishwarup Dutta
“The sun came out earlier on Tuesday than it did on Monday. On Wednesday, the sky will start earlier but the day will still feel cold. The day will be sunnier on Thursday (January 1). The maximum temperature is expected to go up to around 23°, still below normal,” said H.R. Biswas, who heads the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.
“On January 1, there will be a rise in moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal due to an anticyclonic flow. The northwesterly winds will lose some momentum. The night temperature will go up because of that. The day temperature will go up as the sun will be more prominent than it is now,” said Biswas.
In south Bengal, dense fog is expected in the morning over East and West Midnapore, Jhargram, West Burdwan, Murshidabad, Birbhum and South 24-Parganas districts in the coming days. In the rest of south Bengal, including Calcutta, shallow to moderate fog is expected.
In north Bengal, North Dinajpur, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Coochbehar are among the districts likely to be blanketed by dense fog, according to the Met forecast.
For a long stretch, December 2025 had seen the minimum staying in the normal range, between 13 and 15° Celsius. Before Tuesday, the minimum dropped below 13° on December 26 (12.9°) and December 27 (12.8°).
But the feeling of biting cold even in the afternoon is linked to the low day temperature, which has been unusually below normal for the past couple of days.
On Monday, it had dropped to 18.2° Celsius, the lowest since December 28, 2012, when the maximum was 16.3°.