News Desk :
The mild to moderate cold wave sweeping through vast swaths of Bangladesh, including Rangpur, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barishal and Gopalganj, will continue for another two to three days, according to Bangladesh Meteorological Department, reports bdnews24.com
Chuadanga was the coldest place in the country on Monday, with the mercury dropping to 7 degrees Celsius. The temperature was 7.4 degrees Celsius in Jashore and 8.8 degrees Celsius in Tetulia on the same day.
The northern part of the country is experiencing a cold winter at the beginning of the season, said meteorologist Bazlur Rashid.
The temperature dropped below 10 degrees Celsius in Ishwardi, Rajshahi, Bodolgacchi, Rajarhat and Barishal.
Currently, a mild to moderate cold spell is sweeping through Gopalganj, Rajshahi, Pabna, Naogaon, Panchagarh, Kurigram, Jashore, Kushtia, Chuadanga and Barishal, the meteorologist said, adding that it may spread to other parts of the country as well.
“A moderate cold wave, accompanied by light showers is likely to continue for a few days. The temperature, however, may increase on Dec 24 and 25. There may be more cold spells at the start of January,” said Bazlur Rashid.
The trough of the low-pressure system that formed over the southeast Bay of Bengal has intensified and now lies over South Andaman Sea, the Met Office said.
In its long-term outlook, the Meteorological Department has forecast one or two mild to moderate cold spells in the northern, northeastern and central parts of the country in late December.
Light showers are likely to occur at a few places in the north-eastern parts, with a drop in temperature at night, according to the weather forecast for the next 48 hours.
The weather may remain mainly dry elsewhere in the country.
“There could be a little fog in the morning in some places across the country.”
While there were hints of the winter chill in mid-November this year, its onset was slightly delayed by a cyclone and the accompanying showers in December.
Bangladesh typically experiences its coldest days of winter in January.
UNB adds: The winter in Bangladesh, as in many other Asian countries, has become erratic. When people in the country’s northern region seek an escape from cold, those who live in Dhaka are in pursuit of an enchanting winter.
On Monday, the lowest temperature was 14 degrees Celsius in Dhaka at night and 24 degrees Celsius at daytime and public life was almost normal in the capital. But people in many other parts of the country, mainly in the northern region, experienced the biting cold.
The unusual cold weather is forcing people to stay indoors, causing sufferings to low-income people, including day-labourers and rickshaw-pullers. Many people were seen crowding stores of warm clothes and quilts to protect themselves from the biting cold. Living in Dhaka will give you another experience. The middle-class people of Dhaka are in cold-weather gear enjoying the much-sought winter with fancy winter dresses and planning winter trips.
M Abdul Mannan, a senior meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), said Bangladesh has been experiencing abnormal behaviour of the weather pattern over the recent few years with a change in length and duration of sessions. “We can’t now predict when a season will exactly start or end due to freak weather.”
Usually, he said, winter begins early December and ends on February 28 in Bangladesh. “But we’ve been intermittently experiencing less cold during this month for some years. Besides, we’re also not feeling the intensity of cold at the expected level in the capital during the winter.”
Bangladesh’ noted environmental expert Dr Atiq Rahman said the winter is getting less biting in the country, but at the same time getting foggier.
“Crops are being affected adversely by the increased fog. The overall uncertainty in crop production in Bangladesh is on the rise,”” he said.
The expert said people in Dhaka and other cities have been experiencing more temperature than other areas because of the huge number of buildings and concrete roads and pavements which retain the heat for around six hours after sunset.
Dr Atiq, executive director of the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies, “There’s no doubt that temperature has increased in Bangladesh. We don’t find equilibrium in temperature, humidity and rainfall. We call it erratic behaviour of climate.”
A recent World Bank (WB) report said Bangladesh has experienced a 0.5° Celsius increase in average temperature between 1976 and 2019 and is slowly losing the variations between seasons caused by climate change.
It said summers are becoming hotter and longer while winters are warmer, and the monsoon seasons are being extended from February to October.
The report also predicted that average temperatures across Bangladesh will rise by 1.4° Celsius by 2050 while annual rainfall is likely to increase by 74 millimetres by 2040-2059.
