Twin squalls batter city, disrupt flights, uproot trees; more in store

Kolkata: Two squalls struck Kolkata and Dum Dum a few minutes apart on Monday night, uprooting trees and delaying flight operations at Kolkata Airport. While the impact in most parts of the city was limited, Alipore recorded wind speeds of up to 63 kmph at 8.55 pm. A more intense squall hit Dum Dum at 9.05 pm, with wind speeds reaching 76 kmph.Incoming flights were asked to hover over the city till the weather improved and it was safe to land. The storm forced diversion of four flights — three to Bhubaneswar and one to Guwahati. Flights finally could land only around 9.45 pm. "At least 10 flights were on hold in the sky. Departing flights were also held up on the tarmac," said an airport official. The storm overturned guard rails set up by police at the airport entrance, blew away signage and tore hoardings on billboards to shreds.According to initial findings, at least a dozen trees got uprooted in Kolkata during the storm. Monday night's thundershower may be only a preview of wetter days ahead, with the Met office forecasting rain in Kolkata from Monday to Thursday. The city is likely to experience at least one spell of thundershower each day, keeping temperatures within the normal range. "The highest likelihood of intense thundershower activity is on Wednesday," said Met scientist H R Biswas, head of the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata.According to IMD, two weather systems — an upper air cyclonic circulation over Odisha and adjoining areas, and a trough extending from northeast UP to east Vidarbha across east MP — along with favourable wind patterns and strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal, have intensified thunderstorm activity across most parts of Bengal. The maximum temperature on Monday was 33.6°C — 1.6 degrees below normal. The minimum of 22.7°C was 2.5°C below normal.