A cold spell has gripped Kolkata and is likely to last till the weekend, the Met office said.
On Wednesday, the minimum temperature slid to 14.1 degrees Celsius, a notch down from Tuesday but still a notch above the normal.
However, the day temperature was still on the lower side.
The maximum temperature dipped marginally from Tuesday and settled at 21.6 degrees Celsius, the lowest this season. For two days straight, warm clothes seemed welcome even after the sun came out.
“The Celsius was under or around 20 degrees for a long time during the day. That is why we felt the chill,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
Swathes of north-western and northern India are reeling under a cold wave. The Celsius dropped to 4.4 degrees at the Safdarjung station in Delhi on Wednesday.
The conditions are likely to persist till the weekend, according to the IMD forecast.
Dense fog and strong north-westerly winds have been keeping the day temperature on the lower side, said Met officials.
A blanket of fog is prevailing over Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Bengal, they said.
In Kolkata, for the first time this season, the cold spell is likely to stay.
On December 17, the minimum temperature at the Alipore Met office was 13.2 degrees, the lowest so far this season. But within 48 hours, the minimum jumped to 16.2 degrees because of a cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh.
But this time, there is no such stumbling block on the Met radar yet.
“The chill is likely to persist at least till Saturday. The minimum temperature might drop to 13 degrees. But the day temperature will also be on the lower side. That will make people feel cold,” said Das.
The hills are also witnessing a thick blanket of fog in the early hours.
In Darjeeling, the temperature is descending to around two degrees Celsius. In the evening, the mercury has been hovering between four and five degrees.
A Met official did not rule out a round of snowfall in the coming days.
In Sikkim, there has been snowfall in the upper reaches like Lachen and Lachung in the north and in Tsomgo Lake and Nathu-la in the east. In the past 24 hours, the state capital of Gangtok recorded a maximum temperature of 13.6 degrees and a minimum of 5.1 degrees.
In the foothills, the minimum temperature is hovering around 11 degrees.
The districts of south Bengal have also been feeling the chill. The Celsius plunged to 10.1 degrees in Purulia and 10.9 degrees in Sriniketan in Bolpur on Wednesday.