Cyclone skirted, a clear sky and a dip in the night temperature are in store for Kolkatans, a Met official said on Tuesday. “The sky will be clear for the next four to five days. Cold and dry winds from the north are also entering the atmosphere. The winds will drag the minimum temperature down,” said G.K. Das, director, IMD, Kolkata.
Cyclone Sitrang gone, there is no new weather system over the Bay that can inject moisture into the city, according to Met officials.
Sitrang hit Bangladesh coast around 9.30pm on Monday, said a Met bulletin. The bulletin said the landfall happened between Tin Kona island and Sandwip, near Barisal, between 9.30pm and 11.30pm.
On Tuesday, the storm weakened as it moved across Bangladesh. The monsoon retreated from south Bengal on October 20. The monsoon’s withdrawal is marked by a change in the pattern of winds, resulting in cold and dry winds from the north replacing moist winds from the direction of the Bay of Bengal.
The flow of the cold and dry winds was stalled because of the cyclone. “Now that the deterrent is gone, cold and dry winds are back again,” a Met official said. On Tuesday, the maximum and minimum temperatures in Kolkata were 30.2 and 21.5 degrees Celsius, respectively.
Both were a notch below normal and that is how they are expected to remain over the coming days. “A nip in the air will be felt in the night,” the Met official said.
