Bangladesh Braces for Bone-Chilling Five Degree Cold

A biting winter chill has descended upon Bangladesh, bringing daily life to a standstill as a formidable cold wave sweeps across the provinces. Meteorologists have issued a stern warning for Tuesday, 6 January, predicting that minimum temperatures in several key divisions could fall as low as 5 to 7 degrees Celsius. This sudden plunge in temperature, accompanied by a piercing northern wind and heavy moisture, has created hazardous conditions, particularly for those living in rural areas and the urban poor who are poorly equipped for such extreme conditions.

Mostafa Kamal Palash, an esteemed climate specialist based at the University of Saskatchewan, provided a sobering assessment of the situation via a social media briefing on Monday. He cautioned that from Monday evening onwards, a thick blanket of moderate to dense fog would likely saturate the atmosphere across all eight administrative divisions. For those residing in the northern and central belts—specifically Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Dhaka—the prospect of seeing the sun before midday on Tuesday remains bleak. While the southern regions of Khulna and Barishal may enjoy some respite after 10:00 AM, the overarching theme for the next forty-eight hours is one of grey skies and bone-chilling cold.

The official Bangladesh Meteorological Department has corroborated these private forecasts, noting that January is traditionally the harshest month of the winter season. Dr Muhammad Abul Kalam Mallick emphasized that this is merely the beginning of a sustained period of low temperatures, with the current weather pattern expected to endure until at least 12 January. Experts are particularly concerned about the “secondary effects” of the weather, such as respiratory illnesses and the impact on winter crops. There is even a possibility that in certain isolated pockets, the temperature could dip to a staggering 4 degrees Celsius, marking one of the coldest spells in recent memory.

Regional Temperature Forecasts and Sunlight Visibility