A satellite picture on Thursday afternoon shows cloud cover over south Bengal

A cloudy sky pushed the mercury and humidity into the discomfort zone on Thursday as the city experienced November swelter that could persist for a day or two, said the weatherman.

“The clouds and the absence of rain made the weather hot and humid on Thursday. The situation will remain so for a day or two,” said G.C. Debnath, the director of the Regional Meteorological Centre at Alipore.

Pictures sent by satellite Kalpana-1 at 2.30pm showed convective clouds over the southwest Bay and low and medium clouds over parts of the north and westcentral Bay of Bengal.

The clouds did not allow the heat to escape, resulting in a high minimum humidity of 60 per cent. The discomfort index shot up to 62 degrees Celsius, seven points above normal.

“This is not an anomaly. It happens in late October and early November,” said an official of the Pune-based Indian Meteorological Department.