A rainy weekend is likely in Kolkata, according to the Met forecast.
After a couple of days of uniform heat and humidity, some parts of central and north Kolkata were lashed by a sharp spell of rain on Wednesday afternoon. But the rest of the city was largely dry.
On the contrary, north Bengal has been under a sustained wet spell since July 9. On Wednesday, a Met bulletin said heavy rain is likely to continue in north Bengal till July 14 (Friday) because the monsoon trough is passing through South Dinajpur.
After that, the rain is likely to subside in north Bengal, the bulletin said.
“The monsoon trough... now passes through Gaya, Bhagalpur, Balurghat (in south Dinajpur) and thence northeastwards to Arunachal Pradesh. (Because of) Strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, enhanced rainfall activity and heavy to very heavy with extremely heavy rainfall very likely to occur over the districts of north Bengal during 12th July-14th July. Rainfall activity is likely to decrease from 15th July,” said the bulletin issued on Wednesday.
A Met official said the trough is likely to descend after 48 hours. “It is likely to come down, closer to the south Bengal coastline. South Bengal is likely to see increased rainfall from Friday,” saidG.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
Before Wednesday afternoon, the last time Kolkata got rain was in the early hours of Saturday.
Wednesday’s showers were triggered by local clouds that took shape because of the heat and high humidity level.
“The moisture content in the air was more than 60 per cent even during the driest part of the day. Tuesday and Wednesday were humid,” said a Met official.
The Met office recorded a maximum temperature of 33.4 degrees Celsius, a notch above normal, in Alipore on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the rain started around 1pm. Between 1pm and 2pm, Thanthania received 20mm of rain, according to figures collected at the drainage pumping stations of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
In the same period, Maniktala got 13mm and Belgachhia 21mm.
The rain was accompanied by strong gusts of wind in some areas.
But when pedestrians were scurrying for cover in Esplanade and on Park Street and Theatre Road, places like Behala and Kasba were largely dry.
The Met office recorded 0.4mm of rain in Alipore, the official figure for Kolkata.
“Once the trough comes down, the rain is likely to be more uniform in Kolkata,” said a Met official.
But until then, the Met office did not rule out one or two spells of local showers.