Kolkata: Temperature drops 6 degrees, Met predicts chilly end to 2022 – Times of India

KOLKATA: After a short warm spell during which the city had recorded its warmest second-half of December temperature in 50 years last Tuesday, the mercury plunged six degrees to touch 14.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday. The maximum temperature, too, dropped two degrees from Wednesday and clocked 25.4 even as Kolkatans scurried to slip back into their woollens. The chill has been triggered by the return of the northwesterly wind that had slowed down following the formation of a high-pressure zone above Bay of Bengal earlier this week.
New Year’s Eve could remain chilly in Kolkata with the mercury hovering around 13 degrees Celsius, predicted the Met office. But the mercury could rise again from January 1 under the impact of a western disturbance in northwest India.
Minimum temperature had climbed up to 20.6 degrees on Wednesday, seven degrees above normal.

“The northwesterly has gained strength after the high-pressure zone above Bay of Bengal turned weak. It was supplying moisture to south Bengal which had pulled the mercury up. But it has now ceased to be active and the mercury is sliding again. We expect the minimum temperature to drop to 13 degrees on Friday,” said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director GK Das.
The minimum temperature could remain around 14 degrees on New Year’s Eve.
A western disturbance which is set to form in Kashmir, however, could lead to a cloud cover in Kolkata on January 1. “We will see a gradual rise of temperature from New Year day. It could rise a couple of degrees and touch 15-16 degrees on January 1. Subsequently, it will slide up further but it’s still too early to predict how much it will rise,” said the RMC director.
Kolkata recorded its lowest temperature so far this season on December 17 with the minimum clocking 13.2 degrees.
The temperature has been on a roller-coaster ride this month with frequent spikes and lows. Minimum temperature went up to 17.2 degrees on a warm Christmas morning, three notches above normal. Maximum, too, climbed up to 28.6 degrees, two degrees above normal. Kolkata had recorded minimum temperature of 14.8 on Christmas Eve.