The mercury is set to stay high over the next five to six days, with no rain in sight, the Alipore Meteorological Office said on Tuesday.
Calcuttans celebrating Holi found it difficult to stay outdoors for long on Tuesday. After a brief spell of playing with colours, most sought shade or moved indoors.
“I stepped out around 11:30am with some friends in my neighbourhood. After about half an hour, we all decided to move to a friend’s home. We spent the next couple of hours there—it was pretty hot outside,” said a resident from south Calcutta.
The maximum temperature, recorded in the afternoon on Tuesday was 33.1˚Celsius — 0.8 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature, recorded early morning, was 20.1˚Celsius, — 0.9 degrees below normal.
The Alipore Met office said Wednesday’s temperatures are likely to hover around 33 °C (maximum) and 21 °C (minimum).
The sky is expected to remain “mainly clear”.
“The next five or six
days are unlikely to see
any change in the weather. It will be dry, and the
maximum temperature
will be in the range of 32/33 degrees Celsius. There is no
system on the horizon
yet,” said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD),
Calcutta.
The weekly forecast for South Bengal, issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Alipore, indicated that “dry weather” will prevail in Calcutta over the next seven days.
“Rain is unlikely during this period,” the official added.
A resident of Ballygunge noted that early mornings remain pleasant, but temperatures rise quickly once the sun is up.
“By 10am, it becomes very hot,” he added.