Weathermen indicate rainy respite in state soon

Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Kolkata indicated heavy rainfall in East Midnapore, South 24 Parganas, Nadia and Murshidabad on Thursday and Friday afternoon.

Meteorologists also predicted rainfall in Kolkata within two-three days. "We are expecting that the city will receive light rainfall which would decrease the daytime temperature to some extent," said an RMC official.

Rain remained absent from almost the entire part of Bengal except for a few parts of North Bengal with people across the state, including in Kolkata, witnessing hot and humid weather.

On Wednesday, the Regional Meteorological Centre recorded 38 degrees Celsius (maximum) and 28 degrees Celsius (minimum) in Kolkata. "The heat wave would continue till rainfall comes," the official added.

The maximum temperature settled near the 40-degree mark in a few districts in the past few days. "A trough is moving from East Bihar to north-west Bay of Bengal across Gangetic Bengal. In the wake of this, rain and thundershowers are expected to appear in central regions of Bengal. Gangetic Bengal including Kolkata also stands a chance to see some rainy spells thereby, breaking the monotonous dry spell," predicted a private weather forecast agency.

The Skymet Weather pointed out that Kolkata and other parts of the state will witness thunderstorms and a cloudy sky on April 27. But RMC refused to indicate any specific day for the thunderstorm. "Rain may lash any day of this week. We are not pointing at any specific day," the RMC official further added.

The meteorologists explained that it would be pre-monsoon showers that generally appear during late afternoons or in the evening hours. The combination of the wind and the moisture from the Bay of Bengal would pave the way for the rains.

"Lightning and strong winds is also a possibility. Thereafter, as the trough will become insignificant, rains will stop pouring over the region," meteorologists said.