CITY BEATS WET SUNDAY BLUES TO KEEP DATE WITH FESTIVAL AND FEAST, RIVER AND RIDE

The weather threatened to play spoilsport but Parno Mittra was every bit a sport as she dropped by at The Telegraph Bagbazar Festival on Sunday. “It is good to see so many people turning up despite the rain!” smiled the Ranjana Ami Ar Ashbona actress, happy to pose with a giant rainbow-hued umbrella at the Bagbazar Puja ground. The evening’s musical performances, however, had to be cancelled because of the rain and the wet ground conditions

The rain could not stop a joyride on the Hooghly as 150 enthusiasts braved the wet chill for the Heritage Boat Ride, a part of The Telegraph Bagbazar Festival, on Sunday morning.

Umbrellas were the order of the day for those manning the pit stops for The Telegraph Huntage trail that drew 102 cars and around 400 Calcuttans to criss-cross the city driven by clues. This one is in front of Paraswanath Temple in Belgachhia.

Swarnasish Mukherjee, 4, was among the 60,000 Calcuttans who braved the rain on Sunday for a big bite of the final day of the three-day Nolen Gur-er Misti Festival, presented by t2 and City Centre. “My raincoat is better than an umbrella. My hands are free to eat my favourite mishti!” smiled the Upper Nursery student of National English School, Baguiati, as he feasted on Khir Paturi from Mouchak

Woollens and umbrellas made a comeback on Sunday as the rain shifted gears from a drizzle to a downpour, dragging the maximum temperature down to 10 notches below normal.

By 8.30pm, the Alipore weather office recorded 38.7mm of rain, the highest on any February day in the past 10 years . The forecast is for the rain to continue till noon on Monday, followed by the return of chill-laden winds from the north.

The blustery conditions on Sunday reminded Alex Zarifeh, a visitor from Birmingham, of home. “We had expected a warm and sunny day in Calcutta but what we are experiencing is more like home,” said Alex, part of a touring party from Arthur Terry School in Birmingham, England.

The rain didn’t just pull the day temperature down to 20.1 degrees Celsius, it also disrupted the weekend entertainment schedule for many.

Shaam-e-Ghazal, an open-air concert at Nicco Park in association with t2, was called off.

At St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, the first two matches of the second inter-alumni cricket tournament in association with The Telegraph were underway when the rain got stronger. The players were forced to go off the field but the matches resumed in the gymnasium, which was converted into an indoor cricket arena.

“We switched from leather to tennis balls and continued the fun. On the brighter side, some of the ladies in the alumni associations could play under the changed format,” said Sharat Singh of Alumnorum Societas, the old boys’ association of St. Xavier’s Collegiate School.

The weather office said the cloud cover and the rainfall would continue till noon, after which the sky would clear for the sun to make a brief appearance. The day temperature is expected to peak at 24 degrees, but the twist in the winter’s tale lies further ahead.

The morning temperature is expected to drop to 14 degrees, four degrees below normal, by Tuesday with the rain clearing the atmosphere of moisture and allowing the cold North Wind to flow freely. Sunday’s minimum temperature was 17 degrees, one rung above normal.

“A combination of three factors has brought rain to Calcutta. There is a western disturbance over the Northeast, then an anti-cyclonic circulation and also a trough of low-pressure spread from central to eastern India. All these systems are pulling water vapour from the Bay of Bengal towards land, leading to cloud formation and rain,” said Devendra Pradhan, deputy director-general of meteorology at IMD, Calcutta.

By Sunday evening, the western disturbance had weakened and the anti-cyclonic circulation was in the process of passing over the state, pulling the trough along. The anti-cyclonic circulation was spread over a 400km belt, triggering rainfall at most places in the east.

Pritam Ghosh, 24, was among those who didn’t mind the bleak weather. “It was quite warm last week and we had expected to be hurled headlong into summer prematurely before the rain came. I am so glad the nip in the air is back,” said the young man, who had stepped out on Sunday to teach underprivileged children in a south Calcutta school.