Mercury falls to lowest in five years

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department yesterday recorded the country's lowest temperature in five years at five degrees Celsius in Panchagarh's Tentulia upazila.

This marks the lowest dip in mercury since the winter of 2019, when the temperature fell to 4.9 degrees Celsius in the upazila, said Rasel Shah, an official at Tentulia Weather Observation Centre.

"The frosty, cold wind blowing from the north and dense fog are making the nights here exceptionally difficult," he added.

Tentulia is also the upazila where the country's lowest-ever temperature was recorded at 2.6 degrees Celsius in 2018.

Yesterday, the maximum temperature was recorded at 26.3 degrees Celsius in Cox's Bazar's Teknaf and Chattogram's Sitakunda upazilas. Dhaka saw a minimum temperature of 12.7 degrees Celsius.

A mild to severe cold wave is sweeping Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka, Khulna, and Barishal divisions and Cumilla, Sitakunda, and Moulvibazar districts, according to the BMD.

Temperatures between eight and 10 degrees Celsius are considered mild cold waves; six to eight degrees Celsius are moderate cold waves; and less than six degrees Celsius are severe cold waves.

Moderate to thick fog may occur at places over the river basins and light to moderate fog at places elsewhere across the country from midnight to morning.

BMD officials, however, said the temperature across the country is expected to start improving.

"At places, the temperature will start getting warmer from Sunday [yesterday] night and will continue to do so till February 3, after which the country will not likely see any more moderate or severe cold waves this season," said BMD Meteorologist Omar Faruq yesterday.

People living in the northern districts of Dinajpur and Thakurgaon continue to experience a cold spell that is significantly disrupting daily life.

Liakat Ali, a resident of the Rajbari area of Dinajpur town, said he had to drive his rickshaw van early in the morning, but the cold was so intense that his fingers went numb.

All educational institutions in the districts remained closed yesterday.

The weather also affected flight operations at Saidpur Airport in Nilphamari.

Airport Manager Suplob Kumar Ghosh said the operation of flights suffered disruptions for an hour due to low visibility caused by dense fog. "Operations resumed after 1:00pm."

In Thakurgaon, low-income groups are suffering the worst, with limited income for the last week.

Rickshaw puller Rafiqul Islam said his daily income has been dropping for a week as people chose to stay indoors unless there was an emergency. "It's also very hard to pull a rickshaw in this bone-chilling cold."

Meanwhile, farmers fear losses of winter crops, including potatoes and other vegetables, from various diseases.

Sirajul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said, "The situation is not alarming, but the growers are advised to take measures to save their crops from fungal infections."