The Celsius dipped below 20 degrees in Kolkata, for the first time this season, on Thursday, riding northwesterly winds.
Early in the morning, the city was enveloped in a blanket of fog, also for the first time this season.
But after the sun came out, the day was bright and sunny.
The Met office recorded a minimum temperature of 19.1 degrees in Alipore. It was still a notch above what is normal in the third week of November, but a hint of chill was there in the early hours.
In the coming days, the Celsius would go further down but only marginally, said a Met official. Then, a rise is on the cards because of a system that is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal.
“The minimum temperature may drop by another degree. It is likely to be in the range of 18 to 19 degrees for the next three days. At the moment, there is a steady flow of northwesterly winds into Kolkata,” said G.K. Das, director, IMD, Kolkata.
The chill in Kolkata, like much of northern India, draws from the weather in the northern parts of the country, especially Jammu and Kashmir, where the northwesterly winds come from. As the winds travel south, they drag the Celsius down in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar before reaching Bengal.
The IMD has forecast light snowfall and rainfall in Kashmir over the next few days. On Wednesday, Srinagar recorded a minimum temperature of -1.8 degrees Celsius, the season’s lowest so far.
The Celsius is plummeting in the national capital as well. On Thursday, at least two Met stations in Delhi recorded a minimum temperature of under 10 degrees. Safdarjung and Lodhi Road both saw the Celsius dipping to 9.2.
These observations have prompted Met officials in Alipore to predict sunny and pleasant mornings in the city and a hint of chill after the sun goes down.
But the weather can change early next week.
A low-pressure area is likely to form over the South Andaman Sea around November 26. It is likely to intensify into
a depression over the southeast Bay of Bengal by November 27.
“It is unlikely that the system would come to the Bengal coast. It is more likely to either travel towards the Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh coast or towards Myanmar,” said a weather scientist.
The system, if it comes close to the Bengal coast, is likely to inject moisture into the city, stalling the free flow of the northwesterly winds. The minimum temperature will again be on the higher side then.
