"Unprecedented icy wave hits Bangladesh"

By M.A. Matin, Dhaka
6 January 2006, 18:00 PM
I was startled and took some time to find, if it was an ad of cold drink or a weather forecast. Those who are following the weather chart published by the DS might have noted that daily high and low temperature at Dhaka on 27th and 28th December were higher than the corresponding average values of about 40 years. The daily lowest temperature since 17th Dec/05 was 13.2 on 28th, which is also higher than normal of the day by ½ a degree centigrade and higher by several degrees from the recorded lowest of the day for the last half a century.

If we look at the average daily temperature at Dhaka we still find that daily temperature is higher than the long-term average by over 20C. If we scan through the data for the other six stations for which the DS monitors temperature we would find that also not very different and it is difficult for us to conceive the situation to be an 'unprecedented lcy wave hitting Bangladesh'.

But Bangladesh is a small country and experts say that the country does not have a weather of its own. Global and greater global phenomenon affect weather of Bangladesh and this might have been bringing the cold wave and if it comes true it will be another fit of BMD in utilising modern technology in the forecast of Bangladesh weather. This is very important for a country so prone to natural weather calamities.