Kolkata: Mercury set to dip

TNN | Nov 19, 2016, KOLKATA: Even as Kolkata just about started to wrap the "muffler" around, Darjeeling already inched closer to the freezing point on Friday, recording a low 5 degrees Celsius. In Kolkata, the minimum temperature was recorded at 17.7 degrees, a marginal climb from 16.9 on Thursday.

The city will continue to be nippy over the next 48 hours with the mercury predicted to hover around the 17-18 degrees mark. The city, said G K Das, Regional Meteorological Centre director, could get chillier. "This November has been colder than that last year. But the year before, the temperature had dropped to 14.1 degrees Celsius. So, depending on the flow of the north-westerly winds into the region, there is a possibility of the mercury sliding further," Das said.

With no system forming over Bay of Bengal, the path is clear for the chilly north-westerly winds to blow in, said the weather bureau. "The drop in temperature depends on the intensity of the winds. It has turned out to be more intense than what we had expected. We had though the minimum temperature would drop to around 18 degrees on Thursday but it was lower," said Das.

The city could be headed for chillier days soon, as would Darjeeling, said the weatherman. "The hill station is set to remain dry and the mercury may drop further over the next two weeks. But there is no sign of rain or snow there yet," said Das.

Tour operators are, however, not sure if tourists would look to "chill out" in the Hills this season, given the current currency crisis. By now, Darjeeling was usually inundated with calls for hotel reservation for the year-end, but the bookings had been few and far between this season, said tour operators. "This is the time we start confirming trips. But since November 9, confirmations have been rare, indicating a sharp drop in tourists to Darjeeling. With the mercury sliding, we would have expected tourists to finalize their plans by now but as the cash flow is drying up, people are scared to spend extra. This December could be a bleak one for Darjeeling unless the crisis eases out by the first week," said travel expert Raj Basu.