Tuesday was unusually warm in Kolkata despite the afternoon being cloudy and hazy.
The minimum temperature recorded at the Alipore Met office was 21.8 degrees Celsius, five notches above normal.
It was the highest minimum temperature in 61 days. December 6 saw a minimum temperature of 22.4 degrees in Kolkata, according to the Met records.
Winter is on its way out of the city, said a Met official.
The immediate forecast for the city is warm days and a semblance of chill in the night, he said.
“The minimum temperature is likely to drop a few notches on Wednesday as some northwesterly winds will make their way to Kolkata. But the minimum temperature is unlikely to drop below 15 degrees anymore this season. The day temperature will be normal,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was 28.7 degrees, normal for the first week of February.
The morning was foggy. After a brief sunny spell, much of the afternoon was cloudy.
Das said a cyclonic circulation over north Bengal and another over north Bangladesh sent the clouds to south Bengal.
“The sun was bright on Monday. The rise in moisture flow made the air heavy
on Tuesday. As a result, the air above the surface could not rise. The heating that the city received during the day got trapped and could not escape. That is why the minimum temperature shot up,” he said.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Kolkata sky was so hazy that visibility took a hit. From the Maidan to the Bypass, the highrises were cloaked in a blanket of smog.
The clouds over Kolkata were not potent enough to trigger rain. Districts like Murshidabad and Birbhum got rain on Tuesday.
“The system over north Bengal is still strong. But the one over Bangladesh has weakened. As a result, the moisture content in the atmosphere is likely to dip marginally on Wednesday, paving the way for a comeback of the northwesterly winds,” said Das.
“But they are not going to be as strong as they were in the end of January,” Das added.
In the second half of January, Kolkata was caught in a prolonged chill spell. The maximum and minimum temperatures both had been on the lower side for close to a fortnight.