With the mercury rising, experts say city to remain parched

With the sun in no mood to reduce its temper and the rain Gods waiting in silence as if to test patience, Bengal's climate has suddenly become not only hot but extremely sultry and to top it, the weathermen have predicted no relief till Thursday.

Just as a mirage creates a virtual sense of relief in a desert, the experts have said that the weather will become relatively pleasant post Thursday, however, expecting rains would yet again be a bit over the top.

Meanwhile, villagers of Malda's Saatghoria claimed that a man died due to heatstroke on Tuesday and the local police took the body for post-mortem.

With little option left than to step out of the house, people of Kolkata faced high levels of uneasiness. Many were seen carrying bottles of packaged drinking water and sporting glares while on the streets.

"This hot and humid weather will continue till Thursday. But the temperature may slightly decrease on Friday," said a senior meteorologist at the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Kolkata on Tuesday.

Though the expert spoke of relief, he ruled out the possibility of rain in the next 3-4 days saying: "The dip in temperature will be a normal affair and not because of any shower. There is no possibility of rainfall in the coming 3-4 days," he added.

Meanwhile, the highest temperature on Tuesday stood at 37.7 degrees Celsius which was slightly above normal. The lowest temperature was pegged 27.3 degrees Celsius which too was also a little above the normal.

"Kolkata is currently receiving southwesterly winds which are blowing from the land. These winds are coming from areas where the temperature is higher than the city. The neighbouring states — Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar — have already recorded high temperatures with strong heat wave conditions," another meteorologist said. Thus, the reason of the heat in the city is the wind blowing from these places.

The anti-cyclone, that developed in the Bay of Bengal and sent moist winds over the region is far deep into the sea and this may cause this discomfiture.

"There is high chances that the temperature may shoot up beyond 40 degrees Celsius in the coming days or by the end of this month and the heat wave may grip Kolkata hard," some meteorologist added.

However, Skymet weather services, a private weather agency, believed that East India has entered into the pre-Monsoon season and it is the time for the Nor'wester.

During the hot weather months between March to June, the regions in the Indo-Gangetic plains including states like Bengal, Bihar, Assam, parts of Odisha and Bangladesh witness violent thunderstorms that are locally known as Kal Baisakhi or simply the Nor'westers. The nature of these thunderstorms is a slow approach at first and then lashing with a strong squall. A low bank of dark clouds in the northwest region, the upper outline of which has the appearance of an arch is probably the initial signs of a Nor'wester.