Friday was one of the coldest days in February, with the mercury dipping to 11.8 degrees Celsius, five degrees below normal.

The weatherman said the chill would continue till Sunday.

The minimum temperature at Dum Dum on Friday was 9.8 degrees, five degrees below normal.

Met officials said the temperature was the coldest recorded between the second and fourth weeks of February in the past 24 years.

On February 26, 1984, the Alipore Met office had recorded a minimum temperature of 11 degrees.

The lowest recorded temperature in February was 7.2 degrees Celsius on February 12, 1950.

“We analysed various data and decided not to declare a cold wave in Calcutta. But it was close,” said D.N. Talapatra, the director of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.

If the minimum temperature at a place and its surrounding areas dips five degrees or more below normal in winter, it is termed a cold wave in meteorological parlance.

“Today, even though the minimum temperatures at Calcutta and Dum Dum were five degrees below normal, the spatial distribution of minimum temperature was not typical of a cold wave,” said a Met official.

“We are feeling cold in Calcutta because the sky is clear and the North Wind is blowing unhindered,” explained Talapatra.

The minimum temperature is likely to increase from Monday.