Temp nears 35°C, may rise further on Holi, heat-wave alert for dists
Times of India | 13 March 2025
12 Kolkata: Brace for sweltering days ahead as the Met office has predicted hot and humid conditions over the next few days. A heat-wave warning has been issued for some south Bengal districts from Sunday. While the heat wave is likely to spare Kolkata for now, the Met officials said the city too will be reeling under intense heat when the maximum temperature could touch 38°C by Sunday.
The maximum temperature in Kolkata surged to 34.7°C on Wednesday, which was 1.1 notches above the normal mark. It is expected to surge further to 36°C by Thursday. On Friday, when the city celebrates Holi, the mercury is likely to go up by another notch to reach 37°C. While the minimum temperature in the city — at 22.8°C — was slightly above normal on Wednesday, this too is expected to spike to 24°C by Thursday.
"Heat-wave conditions are likely at one or two places over West Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura and West Midnapore from Sunday," said a special bulletin from IMD on Wednesday. A heat-wave condition is when the maximum temperature reaches 40°C or above and is at least five notches above the normal mark.
"While there is no heat-wave warning for Kolkata, the city will also reel under hot weather conditions. The mercury is already on the rise. We expect the maximum temperature to reach between 37°C-38°C by Sunday," said HR Biswas, head of the Weather Forecast Section at RMC Kolkata.
Wednesday's 34.7°C has already beaten the highest March maximum temperature of 2023, which was 34.5°C, and is only slightly below the hottest March day of 2024, which recorded 35.1°C. According to the Met officials, the city and other parts of southern districts are currently getting mainly the dry westerly to north-westerly wind, especially from neighbouring Odisha and Chhattisgarh, where the mercury is already inching towards 40°C. The bright sun, along with the heat being swept in by this dry wind, is pushing the mercury up.
In fact, the 34.7°C was the highest for March 12 in the past few years. On the same day in the past three years, the mercury did not touch 34°C on March 12. The Met office has predicted the maximum temperature to gradually rise by 3°C-4°C during the next five days and is expected to be above normal by 3°C-5°C over most parts of south Bengal.
"Heat waves for two to three days in March are not unusual for some western districts. But this time, we are expecting the temperature to be higher in previous years, and hence the heat-wave conditions could linger for a slightly longer period," added Biswas. According to RMC records, the lowest minimum temperature on Wednesday was recorded at the Darjeeling hills at 7.4°C, while in the plains, it was 15.0°C at both Alipurduar and Pundibari.