City’s hottest day so far this year as max touches 36.4°C

Kolkata: With the relentless rise in mercury in the past few days, Kolkata logged the hottest day of the season so far on Wednesday. The mercury breached the 36° mark, with the maximum temperature clinching 36.4° on the Celsius scale, the highest this year. While the mercury is unlikely to shoot up further, there is also no hope for respite from the swelter until the weekend.The Met office said there was a possibility of a rain break by Saturday, after which the temperature will be retreating back below the normal mark once again. In neighbouring Howrah, the mercury touched 39°, while in Dum Dum and Salt Lake it was 37.3° and 36.8°, respectively. "With the mercury likely to continue swinging between 36° and 37°, the heat and humidity condition is likely to remain the same till we get a rain respite likely by Saturday. The expected thundershower spells will tame the mercury once again," said IMD meteorologist HR Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata. At 36.4°C, it was the hottest day of the year. Even as it was only 0.5° above normal, the city singed due to the high humidity, which pushed up the feel-like temperature to between 41° and 42° during the peak afternoon. This was also the first time for the maximum temperature to cross the normal mark after 19 days. Met officials also said that the Alipore observatory, where the temperature reading is recorded, is surrounded by greenery, making the place cooler than most city pockets. Hence, the temperature recorded could be lower than other parts of the city. In fact, the IMD's Mausam app showed the temperature on Indian Mirror on Wednesday as 39° at 2 pm, around the same time Alipore recorded 36.4°. Places like Ultadanga showed 38° around the same time. The minimum temperature too spiked to the season's highest, making the nights hot and humid. At 28.2°, it was two notches above normal. Nor'wester spells are crucial to bring respite from the heat and humidity during March to May, before the monsoon arrives. But the city has been devoid of thundershower activities for more than a week. "We can expect a gradual fall in mercury by Saturday and further fall in the following days. How sharp the fall will be will depend on the intensity of the thunderstorm spell. But overall the weather will become comfortable once again post the thunderstorm activities," added Biswas. In addition to Kolkata, many southern districts of Bengal are expected to encounter thundershower spells during the same period. Even as few districts like Bankura, Asansol, Panagarh and Purulia are already reeling under heat wave-like conditions, Met officials allayed the fear of such condition in Kolkata for now. In the past one and half decade, the maximum in April hit the 40° mark in four years, including in April 2024 and 2023.
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