The city experienced an unusually warm New Year morning as northwesterly winds failed to arrive following an ‘abrupt change’ in the flow, resulting in a minimum temperature four degrees above normal.
The Alipore Met office had on Wednesday forecast chilly weather till January 3 or 4.
An official said a strong system had developed over Jammu and Kashmir, because of which the winds there were circulating in that region. As winds circulated there, the cold northwesterly winds could not reach Bengal.
The next few days are likely to be warmer than expected, too. The minimum temperature, recorded between 5am and 6am, will hover in the range of 16 degrees Celsius till January 4 or 5, said the official. The temperature is likely to drop below 15 degrees again from January 6.
The minimum temperature recorded on Sunday was 17.5 degrees Celsius, which was four notches above normal.
Sunday morning was overcast, too. The sun could be seen only around 9.30am, said a New Town resident.
A resident of Gariahat in south Kolkata echoed him.
“There was an abrupt change in the flow of northwesterly winds, which did not reach Kolkata on Sunday. This was unexpected,” said G.K. Das, director of the India Meteorological Department, Kolkata. “On Saturday, we forecast a warmer-than-normal Sunday morning. In the forecast, we mentioned the minimum temperature would be around 16 degrees Celsius. But we never expected it to be 17.5,” Das said.
“The abrupt change in the flow of the northwesterly winds is because of the development of a strong system over Jammu and Kashmir. Because of this system, all winds are circulating in that region. No northwesterly wind is reaching West Bengal.”
Many Kolkatans said they did not feel the need to wear warm clothes on Sunday. “It was warm and cloudy. I went out wearing a puffer jacket around 8.30am but had to take it off soon. It was too warm to wear the jacket,” said a south Kolkata resident.
The overcast sky, Das said, resulted from a system over Bangladesh, which pushed clouds into the city’s skies.
“We are not expecting any abrupt drop in temperature on Monday or Tuesday, though it may not be as warm as Sunday,” Das said.
