The monsoon is unlikely to arrive in Kolkata in about a week, an official of the Alipore Met office said on Sunday.
The southwest monsoon had advanced into north Bengal and the entire Northeast by Friday. The north Bengal districts that have come under the influence of the monsoon winds are Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling and Kalimpong, said the IMD official.
There, too, the monsoon wind did not progress much after its arrival on Friday.
The monsoon winds reach Kolkata from the direction of north Bengal.
The monsoon entered Kerala on May 29 and has been making sluggish progress since. According to the website of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the northern limit of the southwest monsoon has only crossed Kerala, less than half of Karnataka and a little more than half of Tamil Nadu.
The heat-humidity combine that has been assaulting Kolkatans for the last few days is likely to do so for the next few days, too, the Alipore Met office said. There could be some respite in the evening in the form of rain and thunderstorms.
“There is no prospect of the monsoon hitting Kolkata in the next five days. We have to endure the hot and humid conditions. There could be occasional respite brought by rain and thunderstorms towards the evening mainly,” said G.K. Das, director of IMD, Kolkata.
“The monsoon had entered north Bengal on June 3 but did not make much progress since then,” said Das.
Soumendu Chatterjee, head of the geography department at Presidency University, said there were many instances when the monsoon took time to reach Kolkata after arriving in north Bengal.
“Unless a low-pressure area develops over the north Bay of Bengal, the monsoon winds will not progress towards south Bengal,” said Chatterjee.
The maximum temperature recorded on Sunday was 35.1 degrees Celsius, which was normal. The minimum was 27.3 degrees, one degree above normal.
The maximum relative humidity was 88 per cent and the minimum was 58 per cent.
The weather official has said that the high levels of humidity in the air – which are causing sweating – is usual during this time of the year.
“The transition from summer to the monsoon is usually marked by a large volume of moisture in the air,” Das said.
The heat and humidity makes the real feel temperature about five or six degrees more than the real temperature. Though the maximum temperatures were higher during April, the real feel temperature is higher now.
“That is because of the high level of discomfort caused by heat and humidity,” said an official.
Sunday’s heat and humidity kept most people indoors till late afternoon or evening. The roads were deserted during the afternoon.
“We had planned to go for a family lunch but finally did not because of the heat. I had stepped out for a while around noon and the shirt got wet within minutes. We instead brought food home,” said a Gariahat resident.
The Alipore Met office has forecast partly cloudy sky with likelihood of rain and thundershower on Monday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be 36 degrees and 28 degrees Celsius, respectively.