Cold weather to continue till end January

by Ananda KANNANGARA

The Meteorology Department said that the current cold weather which hit Nuwara Eliya, Horton Plains, Kandy and suburban hilly areas would continue till the end of January.

In addition to certain parts of the hill country, the temperature in Katugastota, Polgolla, Lewella, Mawilmada, Peradeniya, Halloluwa and Tennakumbura and several areas close to the Mahaweli River is also comparatively low.

Meteorologist, P.G. Yasaratne told the Sunday Observer that the cold weather in the mornings is due to the absence of cloud presence in the sky at night.

"When there are no clouds in the sky, the heat near the earth's surface rises and escapes into the high atmosphere and as a result the surface temperature becomes less,"

The cold weather is also due to the wind coming to the country above the Himalayan mountain from the Northern direction across the Indian ocean.

As a result, the moisture in the air increases and due to this ground frost can also be expected in some areas, particularly during the morning hours.

"The lowest temperature of 10.3 Celsius was reported from Nuwara Eliya yesterday compared to 2.7 Celsius on Tuesday. The temperature in Colombo was 22.7 Celsius yesterday compared to 22 Celsius on Tuesday". He said people should not panic due to the chilly weather as it changes every moment.

A senior officer of the Nuwara Eliya police said that a large number of visitors went to Kandy from Nuwara Eliya on Monday as it was extremely chilly.