A respite from the heat and humidity that have been tormenting the city for the past several days may be on its way, the Met office said.
The city is tipped to get a wet weekend, according to the forecast.
“The monsoon trough, which had been over the foothills of the Himalayas for a long time, has come down. It was dragged down by a cyclonic circulation over the south Andaman Sea,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
“The cyclonic circulation is expected to intensify into a low-pressure area and move towards the Odisha coast on the Bay of Bengal. Under its influence, the monsoon trough is likely to shift over Kolkata. Between Saturday and Monday, the city and other coastal areas of south Bengal are likely to be under a wet spell.”
The trough’s position was responsible for the heavy rain in north Bengal and Sikkim over the past few days, triggering landslides in several areas.
The trough started descending from Tuesday, when it passed over Digha into the Bay of Bengal, said a Met official.
On Wednesday, the trough passed over Balasore in Odisha, around 250km from Kolkata.
The city has been sweating and fretting for the past few days. Wednesday saw the mercury rise to 35.2 degrees, three notches above normal.
Adding to the torment was high moisture content in the air — the maximum relative humidity was 94 per cent.
“The minimum temperature is also a few notches above normal. Even at 9am, the mercury is over 30 degrees,” said a Met official. But the weather is likely to change from Saturday, the official said.