Kolkata is on the boil, with maximum temperatures hovering around 36-38°C, and the one question on many people’s minds is when the rains will arrive with full gusto.
The answer is blowing in the hot summer wind.
The southwest monsoon is expected to onset over Kerala around June 4, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Tuesday, but when the rain relief will fully wash over Kolkata is anybody’s guess.
“We cannot surely say when the monsoons will officially arrive in Kolkata,” H.R. Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, told My Kolkata on Wednesday.
“Though there are daily thunderstorm activities predicted in Kolkata and other parts of Bengal, these are not monsoon rains.”
The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned that the 2026 El Niño could rival the strongest ‘super’ El Niño ever recorded, supercharging climate baseline temperatures and driving extreme weather worldwide.
Should Kolkata worry?
“El Niño formation and summer in Kolkata are not directly related,” Biswas explained. “They are two distinct phenomena and should be treated as such. What will happen in the future due to the global event is for time to decide.”
There is no warning of a heatwave in the city as of now.
“A heatwave is only recorded when temperatures soar above 40°C or 5°C above the normal temperature,” Biswas said.
Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds of 40 to 50 kmph have been forecast for Kolkata on Friday and again on Sunday.
Several south Bengal districts are also under thunderstorm alerts during this period.
That wet spell is expected to continue through the weekend, although rainfall may become more scattered from Sunday.
Similar conditions are likely over Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas and the coastal districts.