Overnight rain made Friday morning cooler than the past couple of days have been but as the day progressed, the sun came out and pushed the Celsius up.
The showers also led to wet outfields that forced schools to postpone outdoor activities scheduled for Friday.
In Kolkata, the weekend is likely to be rain-free, according to the Met forecast. “The mornings are likely to be foggy. But as the day progresses, the sun will come out. The minimum temperature will slide marginally,” said a Met official.
But the winter is on its way out and the Celsius will start rising from Monday or Tuesday again, said an official.
At least one institution had to cancel their sports and reschedule it for another day because of the wet grounds on Friday morning.
Modern High School for Girls had its junior sports in the morning and Modern High School International had their sports in the afternoon, both of which could not be held on Friday. Both have been deferred to Monday.
“The ground was slippery till afternoon. Since the sun was also not strong, the ground did not dry up,” said Devi Kar, director of Modern High School for Girls and Modern High School International.
“We have rescheduled both events. If they cannot be held because of the weather even on Monday, we will have to have an in-house activity without inviting parents,” said Kar.
Parents take leave from work or make adjustments to attend their children’s sports and it is difficult for them to keep making arrangements.
“It is difficult to predict the weather now,” said Kar.
On Friday, parents were sent an email that the sports had been cancelled because of the weather.
St James’ School, which has its senior school sports scheduled for Saturday, had to cancel the drill practice on Friday because of the weather.
“The ground was wet and soggy so the drill practice could not be held. We hope we are able to have our sports on Saturday without any interruption,” said Joseph Chacko, senior coordinator, St James’ School.
The minimum temperature on Friday was 19.9 degrees, four notches above normal.
A trough extending from Bangladesh to Odisha was leading to the formation of rain-bearing clouds. But they skipped Kolkata for the past two days.
Between Thursday night and Friday morning, however, the clouds passed over Kolkata, triggering rain. The Met office recorded around 6mm of rain in Alipore.
“The cyclonic circulation that was over Bangladesh a couple of days ago is now over east Assam and neighbourhood. The moisture content in the atmosphere is tipped to go down on Saturday and Sunday. As a result, the northwesterly winds will enter Kolkata and the nights will be colder. The minimum temperature is likely to be around 16 degrees Celsius,” said a Met official.
But the winds will weaken from next week again, resulting in a rise in the Celsius, he said.