Rain ends heat spell but no relief from humidity

Kolkata: Kolkata received light rainfall late on Monday night bringing a temporary relief from the sweltering heat that the city had been experiencing for the past few days.

People in the city and other districts, who had been under a tremendous heat spell for the past few days, have heaved a sigh of relief as the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicted rain and thundershower in various South Bengal districts in the next 48 hours.

People from the districts such as Birbhum, Nadia, Bankura, Malda witnessed rainfall along with gusty wind on late Monday evening.

A hailstorm hit some parts of Birbhum. A thunder shower is expected to lash other districts like North 24-Parganas, Hooghly, Howrah and adjoining parts of the city on late Monday night.

The MeT office said the mercury will slide down by a few notches but the discomfort may not be reduced as the humidity is still expected to be on the higher side. The sky will remain partly cloudy in South Bengal districts, including the city.

The people will get respite from the scorching sun during the day time. The temperature will go down by 2-3 degrees in the next few days. Interestingly, the temperature may be slightly higher during night if comparison to the temperature, which is normally witnessed during this time of the year. The sky in various parts of South Bengal will remain cloudy till May 15.

According to the weather office prediction, North Bengal districts will receive heavy thunder shower in the next 48 hours. Hail storm is also likely to hit some districts in North Bengal as a result of which tea gardens may face some damages. There will be occasional downpour and gusty wind in South Bengal which will provide some relief to the people for a while. There will be some discomfort as the humidity will be slightly higher, weather office said. It may be mentioned here that entire South Bengal has experienced scorching sun for the past one week.

The temperature touched 42-43 degree Celsius in the Western districts such as Bankura, Purulia and West Midnapore.

The average maximum temperature in the region remained high throughout the day in past couple of days due to the inflow of northwesterly wind to the state from the neighbouring states. There has been little moisture incursion into Gangetic Bengal and thereby preventing the formation of a storm-triggering system.

"Temperature will slightly go down in South Bengal. There is a prediction of rainfall in various districts of South Bengal in the next two days. Kolkatans may experience discomfort because of high humidity in the air," a senior weather official said.