The Met had forecast thunderstorms and rain in the city between Wednesday and Saturday.
The forecast blew away faster than the seasonal squall the city has been yearning for. All Kolkatans got was a cloudy sky for the past couple of days.
A Met official pointed to thunderstorm activities in several areas of south Bengal and said Kolkata missed one by a whisker. He also warned that the next “four days had very little chance of rain” in Kolkata and its adjoining areas.
“The forecast was for thunderstorm activities across south Bengal. Purulia, Bankura, Murshidabad, Nadia, Bardhaman and Medinipur have all got some thunderstorm activity over the past couple of days. But Kolkata and its neighbouring areas missed out,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
The Met office was banking on conducive conditions — a cyclonic circulation over Jharkhand and sufficient heating of the landmass — for the formation of thunderclouds.
The clouds formed but lacked adequate support to reach Kolkata, said Das. He blamed it on the lack of moisture-laden easterly winds.
The forecast is bleak.
“The next few days will be hotter. The mercury is tipped to reach 37 degrees,” Das said.