City’s temp may touch 350C mark in March first week: MeT

kolkata: The city’s temperature may touch 35 degree Celsius in the first week of March, warned the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.

Hot conditions have been prevailing in the city in the latter half of February which is believed to be a winter month. The temperatures in several parts of Bengal already hit 32-33 degree Celsius towards the end of February making people feel hot and humid weather. In the early days of February, the city dwellers experienced winter cold but for the past mercury shot up later.

Weather experts are apprehending that there may be a possibility of an intensely hot summer this year. The MeT office said that city dwellers may witness hot conditions in the first week of March as the mercury may cross 35 degree in the early March while in case of the western districts mercury will shoot up further.

“There will be no major difference in the temperature between day and night. There is no prediction of rainfall in south Bengal as of now. Mercury will slide up from the first week of March giving discomfort to the people. There is a possibility of rainfall in north Bengal,” a senior weather official said.

The highest temperature hovered around 31-32 degree Celsius in the past 24 hours in the city while the lowest temperature remained at around 22 degree Celsius. There may be light rainfall in Kalimpong and Darjeeling. Temperature in north Bengal districts will remain normal. An western disturbance will enter Bengal next Tuesday.

Weather experts pointed out that the current spell of abnormally high temperatures, mainly in northern and western India, is no indicator of how hot the summer, or the rest of the year will be in Bengal. The maximum temperature in February, averaged over the country as a whole, is expected to be around 28 degrees Celsius based on the record of the 30-year period from 1981 to 2010.