Fourth time in five days, city witnesses year’s highest temp

Kolkata: The city recorded the season’s highest temperature on Thursday when it sizzled at 39.7°C. This was the fourth record this summer in the past five days. With the mercury constantly rising in the past week, the city may face a heatwave by Friday, when the maximum is expected to hit 40°C, said Met officials. On Thursday, the Met office issued a heatwave alert for all south Bengal districts, including Kolkata, from Friday to Monday. “Within two days, we will be able to determine with more certainty how long the heatwave will last in Kolkata and the rest of south Bengal,” said Sourish Bandyopadhyay, a scientist at Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Kolkata. However, the mercury already crossed 40°C in some areas across the city on Thursday. Salt Lake recorded a high of 40.3°C and Diamond Harbour saw 40.5°C. In April 2023, the maximum temperature had touched or gone above 40°C on five days, the highest being 41°C on April 14. On two occasions, it was on two consecutive days. If the Met office’s heatwave forecast for Kolkata from April 19 to 22 comes true, it will be the longest heat spell on four consecutive days. “Compared to last year, we are expecting the current heatwave to last a few days longer. In most years, the maximum touches 40°C about three days in April,” said RMC scientist H R Biswas, head of the weather section. If the number of heatwave days this month exceeds that of last year, it could be the second-longest April heatwave since 2000.Since 2000, the longest April heatwaves were in 2009 and 2016, each with eight consecutive days of above-40°C temperatures. In the last 24 years, only five saw April’s maximum touch 40°C. The highest April maximum that Kolkata recorded during this period was 41.3°C in 2016, followed by 41°C in 2023.Alipore weathermen saidthe maximum in the city could go up by two-three notches by the weekend.On Thursday, Midnapore town recorded the highest maximum in Bengal at 42°C, followed by Panagarh at 41.7°C. In contrast, Jaisalmer, in the desert state of Rajasthan, saw a daytime temperature of around 36°C. The minimum in Kolkata has also been above 29°C for the past two days. April’s minimum crossed 29°C twice in 2010, thrice in 2016, and for seven consecutive days in 2023. According to the Met forecast, the minimum is also likely to stay above the 29°C mark until the end of the week.