Signs of winter are appearing in Nilphamari. The body burns in the strong sun all day, but as night falls the surroundings turn cool, and before long fog sets in. This change in the weather is bringing illness to people of all ages in the district, and the number of patients with colds and fever is rising.

In rural Nilphamari, dew can be seen on the green grass, and some people are seen going to the mosque with somewhat heavier clothes on.

Khandakar Aslam Hossain, a resident of the district town, said that although it is intensely hot all day, it turns cold after dusk. If you stand under the open sky at night for a while, the fog wets your hair. Despite the fierce sun and heat all day, the cold of the small hours announces that winter is on its way.

Advocate Shamimul Islam, a resident of Tupamari union in Sadar upazila, said: "I have often heard and read that in a year with less rain there is more cold. This year there was less rain in the district during the monsoon, so perhaps winter has started early. People are falling ill much more with this mismatched cold and heat between night and day."

Dr Amal Chandra Roy, resident medical officer (RMO) of Nilphamari General Hospital, told Jago News that the number of patients with colds and fever is very high at this time, and diarrhoea among children has also risen. The main cause of these illnesses is the sudden increase in cold, he said: people are falling ill because of the swings between cold and heat.

Md Lokman Hakim, an official of the Saidpur Airport weather office, told Jago News that there is currently a lot of water vapour in the air, which is why the weather turns cool at night. This can be called a forecast of winter, because full winter has not yet arrived. Full winter may begin towards the end of October, he said.

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