Kolkata overcast but dry, Met spies thunderstorm today

KOLKATA: The city remained overcast even as the districts of East Midnapore, Birbhum and

Murshidabad

were lashed by severe thunderstorms on Thursday. With a thick cloud cover hanging over the city since late morning, the maximum temperature dropped to 33.9 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. But the cloud-cover turned out to be deceptive. The city didn’t receive rain, but the Met office has predicted a thunderstorm on Friday.

The thick clouds had sailed into Kolkata from the areas that were lashed by thunderstorms, said

G K Das

, director of Regional Meteorological Centre. “But they were not rain-bearing ones so the city remained dry. But we have a low-pressure trough across the state which could trigger a thunderstorm on Friday,” said Das.

A low-pressure trough extends north Bengal to Odisha could trigger a thunderstorm in Kolkata. It has already triggered thunderstorms across the north Bengal districts. “The conditions will turn ripe for a storm on Friday,” added Das.

Frequent thundershowers have made the heat bearable this summer, according to the Met office. As many as five squalls hit the city in April, apart from another half a dozen that lashed the neighbouring districts. It helped keep the mercury in check. For the first time since 2015, the maximum temperature hasn’t touched 38 degrees Celsius till May 9. The highest recorded in Kolkata so far this season has been 37.6 degrees Celsius.

In 2015, Kolkata had recorded a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius on April 11, which was the highest till mid-May. That apart, maximum temperature in Kolkata has always crossed 38 degrees by the first week of May. This has been the trend of the last five years.

Met officers felt frequent thunderstorms and squall have been responsible for this. “This season we have had a regular flow of moisture and heating over the Jharkhand area which trigger thunderstorms. Also, there have been cyclonic circulations aiding the process,” said Das. He said thunderstorms might continue in May which usually isn’t a bad month for squalls. But in case they disappear, so far there has been no squall in May, the temperature may shoot.