Weather played the goddess, blessing the city with a Puja not seen in years: bone dry and not that hot.

Of the past five years, only 2015 had seen an absolutely dry Puja. The weather department, however, said the conditions this year are better than the previous year’s because of lower minimum relative humidity.

The average maximum temperature between Sashthi and Navami this year has been 33.4 degrees, a notch above normal. The average maximum temperature during the corresponding period in some of previous years since 2014 had been lower but that was because of cloudy skies and rain.

Bagbazar Sarbajanin Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Goutam Bose

In 2015, the average minimum relative humidity during the Puja was 53 per cent. This year it has been 43 per cent.

“The minimum relative humidity shows the moisture content in the air during the hottest part of the day, which is the afternoon. If humidity is more, people sweat more and their energy levels fall when they are outdoors,” a Met department official said.

While Calcuttans are enjoying the fact that the weather was not sultry, they are a lot more thankful that there was no rain on the festive days.

Jagat Mukherjee Park Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Goutam Bose

In 2014, 2016 and 2017, it had rained on every Puja day in the city. While Puja 2015 was dry, 2013 saw the heaviest rainfall in the city on the festive days, under the influence of Cyclone Phailin (pronounced Pilin) that had crashed into Odisha on Ashtami.

If Phailin had played spoilsport in 2013, another cyclone, Titli, that had passed over Calcutta last Saturday after making landfall in Andhra Pradesh, has resulted in a clear sky during this year’s Puja.

“The timing of Titli was perfect to ensure fair weather in Calcutta during the Puja. Whenever a strong weather system like a cyclone passes over a particular place, it takes along with it the residual moisture in the air. After passing over Calcutta, Titli had moved to Bangladesh and dragged down the moisture content of the air,” said Ganesh Kumar Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Calcutta.

Ekdalia Evergreen Pictures by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya and Goutam Bose

Titli had brought 52.8mm of rain in Calcutta. After it had moved away, a dry north-westerly wind had replaced the wet southerlies.

The pleasant weather is likely to continue for another five days at least. After that a low-pressure area is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal but whether it would affect the Calcutta weather would only become clear later.