The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

The country has been experiencing a sudden cold spell sharpened by rainfall due to icy Himalayan winds, which triggered a cold wave with incessant drizzle that swept across the country.

Dhaka city experienced intermittent rain and drizzle Thursday and Friday, coupled with a seasonal northern wind. As a result, the cold appeared to intensify.

However, according to the Earthtimes.org, the day temperature fell sharply in the rice and sugarcane growing northern region where 22 deaths were recorded in worst-hit Rangpur district.

The nights were even colder with mercury dropping below 8.5 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, it reported.

The Met office said, different areas of the country have experienced rainfall as prevailing easterlies met a western low-pressure front. Cloud cover was almost total in most areas of the country yesterday.

The same is expected today (Saturday), with moderate rain or drizzle in different areas, though the weather may improve from Sunday, it said.

Sadekul Alam, weatherman, said, "As the western low was crossing over the country it met with an easterly wind from the Bay of Bengal associated with cloud mass, causing the rainfall."

"In most areas of the country, the difference between maximum and minimum temperature, over twenty-four hours, has actually become narrower. This is why the cold is being felt," he said.

Experts opined that this temperature fall and drizzling will cause serious impact on Rabi crops.

The country's lowest temperature yesterday was recorded at Dinajpur, which was 11 degree Celsius. In Dhaka, the lowest temperature was 15.3 degrees Celsius.

Khulna, Jessore, Dhaka, Barisal and Patuakhali and some other areas of the country experienced rainfall, according to the Met office.

Most fatalities were due to pneumonia, diarrhoea and viral infections, according to the Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

The cold wave victims were mostly young children and the aged from poor and low-income families in straw huts and fragile dwellings exposed to the chill winds blowing from the north.

Three deaths were reported from bordering Dinajpur while people with asthma and other respiratory problems in the country's northern district Bogra were rushed to hospitals.

The weather aggravated with winter drizzle and dense fog enveloping Dhaka city disrupting life and business with thousands of commuters stranded at ferry and bus terminals. Most public transports suspended services with trains running behind schedule.