Maximum, minimum temperature gap closes in under cloud cover in Kolkata

KOLKATA: The city remained shrouded in a cloud cover on Monday even as occasional drizzles drenched Kolkata. Caused by a cyclonic circulation over westcentral Bay of Bengal, the rain may get heavier on Tuesday and continue till Wednesday. The cloud cover brought the mercury down, bringing the difference between maximum and minimum temperature for the day to just 3.5 degrees Celsius.

But the feel of an early winter chill, was merely temporary, said the Met office, adding that the maximum temperature might rise again from Wednesday.

Kolkata received 1mm rain and recorded a maximum temperature of 26.9 degrees Celsius on Monday, four notches below normal. The minimum figure was not much lower, at 23.4 degrees Celsius, one degree above normal.

Under the influence of the cyclonic circulation, which may turn into a low-pressure on Tuesday, light to moderate rain has been predicted across North and South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah and Hoogly over the next 48 hours. Heavy showers might lash some places at East Midnapore, North and South 24 Parganas, stated an IMD bulletin. “While the city received just light drizzles on Monday, we expect the showers to get marginally heavier from Tuesday. The cloud cover may persist till Wednesday but the showers may come down to a trickle. The maximum temperature has slid due to the cloud cover and it will continue to hover around the 28 degrees. But we expect the mercury to start rising once the cloud cover starts receding on Wednesday,” said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director G K Das.

Private weather forecasting service AccuWeather recorded 24 degrees Celsius on Monday afternoon, when it actually felt like 28 degrees. The latter is calculated based on several factors, such as wind speed, wind direction, angle of sunrays, altitude, humidity, cloudiness and rain and it is a measure of the actual feeling of warmth or cold on the skin. “A cloud cover usually pulls the mercury down by a couple of degrees. Once the cover goes, the mercury will rise again. The winter chill is still some distance away and we must wait for the north-westerly wind to get cooler,” Das added. It was the very cloud cover that kept the minimum and maximum temperature close. “It rarely happens that the two come so close. The difference will remain small till the could cover persists,” he said.