Kolkata records coldest day in seven years
By IANSWednesday, January 12, 2011
KOLKATA - People in Kolkata shivered Wednesday as the city recorded its coldest day in seven years with the mercury dipping to a low of 9.6 degrees Celsius.
While the minimum temperature recorded was four degrees below normal, the day’s maximum was 22.5 degrees, again four degrees below the average for this time of the season, a weather official said.
The minimum temperature Tuesday was 9.9 degrees. Previously, the mercury had dropped below the 10-degree mark on Jan 6, 2004, when the minimum temperature recorded was 9.4 degrees.
“The northerly winds blowing through the north and central states of the country added to the chill in the city. The cold wave conditions across the state, mainly in the south Bengal region, will prevail till Thursday and the situation will improve Friday onwards,” said G.C. Debnath, director of the Regional Meteorological Centre here.
The poor, mainly those residing in the slums and sleeping on pavements across the city, are the worst affected by the cold. Most of them were found huddling around bonfires early in the morning and at night.
