April may not be the cruellest month after all.

The first seven days of April 2008 in Calcutta were the coolest in at least a decade, Met officials said. The temperature pattern in the first week of April in 1998 was similar to that in 2008.

“In both cases, there was a dip in the maximum temperature following thundershowers. But as the intensity of rain was more this year, the first week of April 2008 was marginally cooler than it was a decade ago,” said G.C. Debnath, the director of the weather section at Regional Meteorological Centre, in Alipore.

The thunderstorms on April 3 and April 4 — the city recorded more than 58 mm of rain on the two days — resulted in a sharp drop in the maximum temperature. On April 4, the maximum temperature was 24.7 degrees Celsius, 11 degrees below normal (36 degrees).

“The demand for power dropped by over 200 MW on April 4. There was no shortfall in the CESC-served areas between April 4 and 7, presumably because many households did not need to switch on air-conditioners or even fans,” said a power department official.

In 1998, a thunderstorm hit the city on March 31, dragging down the maximum temperature to 29.6 degrees Celsius, six degrees below normal. The city on that day recorded about 22 mm of rain.

Debnath said the maximum temperatures on the first seven days of April in both 1998 and 2008 were below normal.

The Met officials also pointed out that in the past decade, except in 1998 and 2008, there were not many Nor’westers or thunderstorms in the first week of April. “It appears from the temperature chart that there was not much rain in the first week of April between 1999 and 2006,” said a Met department official.