Real feel 8°C higher than actual max, season’s biggest gap so far
Times of India | 1 April 2025
Kolkata: The maximum temperature has dipped in the past couple of days to hover around the normal mark but the city continued to experience uncomfortable weather. According to the Met office, the moisture content in the air is leading to a wide gap between the actual temperature and the real-feel. However, there is a possibility of rain in a few districts towards the end of this week, including Kolkata, the weathermen said.
Real-feel is how a human perceives the heat, taking into account two important factors: the actual temperature and the humidity level in the air, along with a few other contributors like wind speed and the intensity of the sun.
On Monday, when Alipore recorded a maximum temperature of 33.8°C around 3 pm, the Mausam app by IMD showed a real feel of 42°C. Even as the 8°C gap narrowed gradually as the day progressed, the variation remained throughout the day and night. IMD started the real-feel calculation recently on an experimental basis.
"Real-feel is similar to the discomfort index, which we calculate by taking into account the actual temperature and the humidity, with a few more additional factors like wind speed being considered in the former. But overall, both indexes reflect how humans perceive the heat," said HR Biswas, head of the RMC weather forecast section.
While Monday's maximum was a dip from Sunday's 35°C, Kolkatans could not feel much of the mercury decline due to the high discomfort level. According to the Met office, this was due to the increasing humidity level close to the ground brought in by the southerly wind system.
The minimum relative humidity, which is measured in the afternoon coinciding with the maximum temperature reading on Monday, shot up to 54%. This parameter went down as low as 26% on Saturday before it started rising from Sunday.
"Currently, the city is getting the moist southerly wind at the lower level, which is injecting moisture near the surface from the Bay of Bengal. Once the minimum relative humidity goes up beyond 40%, it starts adding to the discomfort factor. This is what we are experiencing at the present," added Biswas.
At present, Kolkata is getting an opposing wind system at the upper level, where the dry northwesterly wind is preventing the mercury from rising. However, the moisture content at the ground level is not letting people feel the slip in mercury. This moisture content needs to rise to the upper air level for it to form thunder clouds.
Met officials, however, said that Kolkata and other coastal districts are more accustomed to the humidity during the summer months. But the weather becomes intolerable if the discomfort index or the real feel shoots above 50°C. Only a few spells of rain could dispel this moisture content and bring some respite. "We are expecting thundershower activities by the weekend in many southern districts. For Kolkata, there is a possibility on Saturday," added Biswas.
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