Heat and humidity stewed Calcutta on Thursday before showers brought some relief that Met officials said would be short-lived.

New Town and neighbouring Rajarhat presented a different picture compared to places like Esplanade, Ballygunge and Shyambazar where there was scanty or no rainfall at all.

New Town and Rajarhat got relatively heavy rain that was preceded by strong gusts of wind. The wind toppled motorbikes and scooters parked in front of Nazrul Tirtha and the Central Mall. The rain came in two spells, both brief but sharp.

By 6pm, some pockets near the New Town Fire Station had ankle-deep water.

Around 1.30pm on Thursday, the temperature was just over 36 degrees. But a humidity quotient of 65 per cent pushed the RealFeel to almost 50 degrees.

The heat near the surface of the earth and the high humidity led to the formation of thunderclouds early evening. The rumblings of thunder and frequent streaks of lightning lifted the expectations of many. But only some parts of the city got rain, between 4pm and 8pm.

The showers were not uniform. Pockets of Behala and Taratala got drenched around 5.30pm. But Esplanade and Kasba were dry at the same time.

“The showers in Calcutta and neighbouring Howrah and North 24-Parganas were triggered by local thunderclouds. Districts like West Midnapore, Jhargram and Bankura got rain from clouds that came from Jharkhand,” said a Met official.

“The rain triggered by local clouds is often isolated. The clouds are smaller in size and not very tall. Pockets, which come in the way of the clouds, get rain. Compared to this, monsoon rain is more widespread and uniform as the clouds are well-distributed,” the official explained.

Even places that did not get rain got a mild and pleasant breeze in the evening. It was a welcome break from the extremely uncomfortable condition that prevailed for a better part of the day.

The Met office recorded a maximum temperature of 37 degrees, close to three notches above normal. The minimum touched almost 30 degrees, also three notches above
normal.

It was the hottest day in 19 days. On May 18, the maximum temperature was 37.4 degrees and on May 25, it was 37 degrees. But it was still not a measure of how uncomfortable the city felt.

“Today was extremely uncomfortable, even by the standards of June in Calcutta,” said Jayanta Pramanik, who came to Esplanade on an East-West Metro train from Howrah Maidan and then took a bus to Alipore

“The AC Metro ride was very comfortable. But the bus ride was so taxing. I was sweating in litres,” said Pramanik.

Monsoon reached north Bengal on May 31 this year, ahead of its usual schedule of June 5. But it is unlikely to reach south Bengal any time soon, said the Met official.

“The wind pattern is not favourable for the onset of southwest monsoon in south Bengal in at least the next three to four days,” said the Met official.

“An east-west trough now runs from... over northwest Madhya Pradesh to west Bengal across east Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand at 0.9km above mean sea level. A cyclonic circulation lies over north Bangladesh and neighbourhood and extends up to 3.1km above mean sea level,” said a Met update.

Both the systems are positioned to trigger more rain in north Bengal, which has been the case for the past few days, the official said.

In Calcutta, the coming days are going to be hot and humid, with the possibility of thundershowers in the afternoon or evening, he added.