A cyclonic circulation triggered moderate rainfall in the city on Tuesday and Wednesday.

It brought temporary relief from the rising heat and humidity in the city since last weekend. But sweaty conditions are likely to gradually be back in the city, said a Met official.

“A cyclonic circulation over Gangetic Bengal led to the rainfall. The system now lies over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Jharkhand and extends up to 0.9km above mean seal level,” said a Met update on Wednesday evening.

“The monsoon trough now passes through Bahraich, Gaya, Shantiniketan and eastwards to Manipur across Bangladesh and south Assam,” the update said.

“Another cyclonic circulation is brewing over the Bay of Bengal off the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu coasts. It is too far from Bengal to have an impact here,” said the Met official.

From Friday to Monday, the maximum temperature hovered around 35 degrees. The high moisture content in the air, typical of August, had made it more sweltering. The maximum temperature on Monday was 35.4 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

Around 2.30pm, the RealFeel — calculated by weather portal AccuWeather.com — was 43 degrees.

The hot and sultry spell was broken by sharp thundershowers that started from early Tuesday. From Tuesday morning to Wednesday night, the city got multiple spells of rain.

The sky was overcast for most of the two days. Roads were deserted on Monday because of the lockdown in the state. But on Tuesday and Wednesday, traffic was slow at several busy intersections because of the rain.

The first few days of a month see a sizeable queue outside government banks — mostly senior citizens waiting to draw their persons. Around 11am on Wednesday, over 20 elderly people were jostling for space under a sunshade outside a nationalised bank in Behala. They were trying to take shelter from the train. Only a few were being allowed inside the bank at a time to maintain social distancing.

The Met office recorded around 40mm of rain on Tuesday and Wednesday combined. The volume was not much but the overcast and windy conditions led to a dip in the temperature. Tuesday’s maximum temperature was 27.1 degrees, five notches below normal. On Wednesday, it had climbed to around 30 degrees, still two notches below normal.

“The sky is expected to clear from Thursday afternoon. There could be occasional showers but it is likely to get hotter from Thursday,” the Met official said.

“There is usually a lot of moisture in the air during the monsoon. At times like this, when the rain dries up and there are no clouds, allowing the sun to beat down hard, the temperature rises and the moisture in the air makes the weather sweaty and uncomfortable,” the official said.