A sharp spell of overnight rain dragged the Celsius down by several notches in Calcutta on Tuesday, making an end-April afternoon far more bearable than it usually is.
The Met office recorded around 23mm of rain in Alipore between 8.30pm on Monday and 8.30am on Wednesday. A bulk of it came down between 9.30pm on Monday and 2am on Tuesday.
Some other parts of the city got more rain than Alipore did, as shown by readings at the booster pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperature in Alipore was 19.2 degrees, seven notches below normal and the lowest in nearly two months. On March 7, the minimum temperature was 18.2 degrees.
But the prime reason the day was nothing like a typical end-April one was the low maximum temperature. At 31.2 degrees, it was almost five notches below normal.
The effect of the minimum temperature, which is usually recorded just before sunrise, is felt for a short duration in the early hours of the day. But the effect of the maximum temperature, which is recorded in the afternoon, usually when the sun is directly overhead, is felt for most of the day.
The slide was hard to miss. Many Calcuttans did not need to switch on their ACs to get a sound sleep. Tap water in the morning was so cold that many needed to turn the geyser on for an early shower.
The Met office has predicted more rain in the coming days.
“The upper air cyclonic circulation over northeast Bangladesh now lies over north Bangladesh and extends up to 1.5km above mean sea level. There is another north-south trough from Uttar Pradesh to Telangana. Due to favourable wind patterns and moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, moderate to severe thunderstorm activity is likely over the districts of Bengal,” said a Met official.
“The rain and winds will be more intense in districts like Jhargram, West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and West Burdwan. But Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly and North and South 24-Parganas will also be affected,” he said.
A Met bulletin has predicted that the wet spell will last in south Bengal till May 2.
“On Monday, gusty winds in the range of 40-80kmph were reported at one or two places over the districts of south Bengal. The highest, at 80kmph, was recorded at Purulia in the evening. At Alipore, a gust clocked 49kmph late at night,” said the Met
official.