LOW-PRESSURE BELT ON ARABIAN SEA KILLS HOPES OF EARLY WINTER ONSETChill eludes city as winds from Kashmir die down

TT, 2 December 2019, Calcutta: December is here but the chill is not.

The minimum temperature has been hovering well over the normal mark for a few days. It was 19.5 degrees on Saturday, three notches above normal, and 19 degrees on Sunday.

The minimum is likely to vary between 19 and 20 degrees over the next two to three days.

A Met official blamed the lack of chill on the absence of northwesterly winds from Kashmir and neighbouring states in the north.

The afternoons have been warm and fans have been in full pelt during the night as well.

The city sky was cloudy in phases on Sunday under the impact of moisture-laden northeasterly winds that were blowing from Bangladesh.

A Western Disturbance -- an extra-tropical storm originating in the Mediterranean -- was passing over Kashmir, leading to frequent A haze over the city's Maidan area on Saturday evening. Picture by Pradip Sanyal snowfall and rain in the valley there.

A Met official said the system blocked the flow of cold winds from Kashmir.

On Saturday, a PTI report said parts of Kashmir, including the popular hill resorts of Gulmarg and Pahalgam, reeled under sub-zero temperatures after snowfall.

A high-pressure belt in central India usually facilitates the flow of winds from north and northwest towards gangetic Bengal. "But the system is yet to become prominent," the Met official said.

The forecast for Calcutta is bleak as Calcuttans have been craving for some chill.

"A low-pressure area has formed over the Arabian Sea. Even if northwesterly winds start blowing in the next two to three days, the low-pressure system is likely to draw them towards the west," said a Met department official.

The minimum temperature rose to 20 degrees on November 26 and has since stayed well over 19.

The lowest the Celsius has plunged to this season was 18.1 degrees, on November 20.

It was a very brief phase, which followed the passage of Cyclone Bulbul, when the conditions were favourable for the flow of cold winds from the north into the city.