KOLKATA: The city is unlikely to get any respite from the heat for about a week. Kolkata's maximum temperature could stay above 40°C for the next two days, making 2024 get this century's highest number of April heatwave days. Sunday's maximum temperature of 41.3°C marked the seventh day this month with above 40°C temperature since the heatwave started on April 19.
Between 1998 and 2024, April 2009 and April 2016 each had eight days when the maximum temperature touched or crossed 40°C. So far, seven out of nine days since the onset of the heatwave have seen the mercury crossing the 40°C-mark this month. On Sunday, the Met office issued two bulletins stating that the heatwave conditions are likely to prevail till at least May 2 and that there was no indication of rainfall in Kolkata till at least May 5.
According to Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) head Somenath Dutta, there is a slim chance of a thunderstorm in the city between May 5 and 6. This would be the first instance of rain since the city's last spell of 0.5 mm on April 7 and could perhaps bring down the mercury several notches, relieving the city from at least 15 consecutive days of heatwave conditions.
"I have observed an anticlockwise turn in the southerly winds in the Bay of Bengal, which tends to be conducive for thunderstorm activity. While we need a few more days to observe the system, if the trend continues, there may be a mature thunderstorm between May 5 and 6, bringing substantial cold and dry winds, which would, in turn, push the mercury down," Dutta said.
While Kolkata's heat is well on its way to break a record this week, this April has already broken the record for the highest temperature in 44 years. Last Thursday, the maximum temperature hit 41.6°C, the highest the city has seen in April since it touched 41.7°C on April 25, 1980. In recent years, the mercury crossed 41°C only seven times - in 2009, 2014, 2016 and 2023. Meanwhile, this month has already seen three days where the mercury shot past the 41°C-mark.
"Over the last few days, we have been seeing an increasing flow of cool southerly wind from the Bay of Bengal, countering the hot dry northwesterly wind. While this is not sufficient to cause a thunderstorm, it's influence curtails the temperature from rising significantly. Most likely, for the next four to five days, the temperature is likely to stagnate rather than increase further," Dutta added.
Monday is likely to remain sunny, and partly cloudy in the later afternoon, while the maximum and minim-um temperatures are likely to remain near 41°C and 29°C respectively.