January is Bangladesh's coldest month, but the cold has eased considerably in the second half of this month. Although there was a continuous cold wave for the first 14 days of the month, there has been no cold wave in the country for the past few days.

The Met Office said temperatures have risen somewhat because fog has decreased, the flow of cold wind from the north-west is weak and humidity in the air is having an effect.

On Thursday morning (22 January), meteorologist Afroza Sultana told Jago News that as fog has decreased over the past week, sunlight is falling directly on the ground, raising daytime temperatures and making it feel less cold. In addition, the flow of cold, dry wind from the north-west has been very weak, so cold wave conditions have not developed.

She said the first half of the month was very cold. Last week the cold eased considerably in Dhaka and other parts of the country, but early mornings in the northern region still feel quite cold compared with elsewhere, and a cold wave is still present in patches in two districts today.

Saying there was little chance of a widespread cold wave this month, the meteorologist said mild cold waves could occur in one or two places in patches over the rest of the month, but the chance of a widespread cold wave is very low.

She said only one week of the Bengali month of Magh has passed, and a mild cold wave could occur in early February.

The Met Office's regular forecast today said a mild cold wave is sweeping Panchagarh and Kurigram districts. Night temperatures across the country may fall slightly and day temperatures may rise.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.