Ferry services disrupted for up to 9 hours, cold wave retreats
The coldest month of January, for the second straight year, marked an extreme change in weather, triggering an abnormal drop in day and night temperature.
In four days between December 30 and January 2, the day temperature dropped by 12C in the capital Dhaka, showed data released by Bangladesh Meteorological Department.聽
The maximum day temperature dropped to 16C on January 2 from 28C on December 30 as a cold wave gripped Bangladesh鈥檚 northern districts.
Similarly, the Met Office said, the minimum temperature dropped by 4.4C, reaching 13.6C on January 3 from 18C on December 30.聽
鈥楽uch a steep drop in temperatures is occurring during winter nowadays,鈥� meteorologist Bazlur Rashid told 抖阴精品 on Saturday.
鈥楾he extreme feeling of cold is linked with the sudden temperature drop to which humans are not accustomed to,鈥� he said.
In 2024, January was the driest month in 42 years since 1981, with a 100 per cent rain deficiency.
The first week of January 2024 took the Met Office by surprise when the maximum day temperature dropped by 9C over the course of just three days, from 26C on January 2, 2024, to 17C on January 4, 2024.聽
The abnormal temperature drop is dangerous, particularly for children and elderly people to cope with it.
Such a sudden temperature change might also have consequences for broiler chickens and wild animals.
The brief cold wave that began on the first day of the year disappeared on Saturday, when Bangladesh鈥檚 lowest minimum temperature of 9.4C was recorded in Panchagarh.
A fresh cold wave spell is predicted at the beginning of the second week of the month with a wet spell setting over the northern region, the Met Office warned.
Dense fog continued to occur across Bangladesh, particularly along rivers, disrupting communication and lives and livelihoods of the people relying on outdoor activities.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Manikganj reported that low visibility owed to dense fog disrupted ferry service on the Aricha鈥揔azirhat and Paturia鈥揇aulatdia river routes for up to nine hours.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation鈥檚 deputy general manager Nasir Mahomud Chowdhury said that the ferry services on both the routes resumed at around 7:45am.
According to the BIWTC, ferry service on the Aricha鈥揔azirhat route remained suspended from 11:30pm on Saturday while on the Paturia鈥揇aulatdia route from 11:00pm on Saturday.
On the Aricha鈥揔azirhat route, two ferries were forced to anchor midriver in the Jamuna River with passengers and vehicles onboard.聽
Similarly, on the Paturia鈥揇aulatdia route, two ferries were anchored midstream in the Padma River after visibility fell.
Traffic on the highways was also slowed down because of low visibility.聽
