Light rain brings relief; heat alert stays, city refreshed after evening shower: Met
Telegraph | 18 March 2025
Several parts of the city got light showers on Sunday evening that brought relief from the hot and humid conditions that prevailed during the day.
The rain was accompanied by streaks of lightning and rumblings of thunder. Several districts in south Bengal also got similar showers.
The Met office has already sounded a heatwave alert for the western districts of Bengal. In Calcutta and other coastal regions of south Bengal, the conditions are likely to be hot and humid.
A Met official said on Saturday that thunderstorms were expected across south Bengal on March 20 and 21.
“That forecast still remains. Today’s showers were unexpected. The convergence of moisture-laden winds near the surface of the earth and the dry winds in the atmosphere led to the formation of thunderclouds. The heat trapped in the surface played a perfect ally. The increase in the moisture level and the extent of the penetration of dry winds was unexpected so soon,” said a Met official at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.
Calcuttans were not complaining. “The day was so uncomfortable. I was locked up indoors and the AC was switched on for almost the entire day. But when I heard the rumblings of thunder in the evening, I rushed to the terrace. It was breezy and soon, light rain started,” said Surabhi Ganguly, a teacher who lives in Jadavpur.
Sovabazar, Esplanade, Tollygunge and Behala were among the places that got rain.
“Thunderstorms with lightning and light to moderate rainfall are likely.... over some parts of Kolkata, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas during the next two to three hours,” said a Met alert issued at 7.50pm.
Similar alerts were issued for West Midnapore, Howrah and Hooghly as well.
“Similar localised showers are not ruled out over the next few days,” the Met official said.