Sultry, muggy, hot and humid or stifling. Take your pick to describe Calcutta’s predicament on Tuesday.

Rain remained elusive, the wind was not pregnant enough with moisture to deliver, the mercury shot up 3.5 degrees Celsius overnight — from a bearable 34.3 to a punishing 37.8 — and the discomfort index went berserk.

The discomfort index that indicates the effect of heat and humidity on the human body read 65.4 degrees Celsius, a mauling 10.4 degrees above the comfort level of 55 degrees.

The index actually oscillated from normal to uncomfortable as the day progressed. Around 8.30am, with a cloud developing on the horizon, the index came down to 46.4 but jumped up again to reach 65.4 degrees at 11.30pm.

The maximum temperature stood at 37.8 degrees Celsius and the minimum relative humidity jumped to the late forties a little after 2.30pm, making it the sultriest time of the day.

“A trough of low pressure stretching from Madhya Pradesh to Bangladesh across Jharkhand, Bihar and central Bengal had brought clouds to Calcutta. These kept the maximum temperature at 34 and 35 degrees Celsius over the past two days. The cloud cover is thinning now and the temperature is on its way up,” said Gokul Chandra Debnath, director of the Regional Met office at Alipore.

Satellite pictures show the trough pushing north. “This means, moisture incursion over the city will subside,” Debnath explained.

Chances of rain over the next two days have dried up with the trough travelling out of Calcutta to take a weekend break in the cool climes of north Bengal.

The city forecast? Maximum temperature will rise by a degree on Wednesday, taking with it in its ascent the discomfort index. The high relative humidity level will not show any sign of relenting without a good spell of rain.

That means, search for more synonyms for sultry.