At 38.6°C, Kol records highest max this summer; real-feel touches 45°C
Times of India | 10 May 2025
12 Kolkata: The mercury surged to this summer's highest in Kolkata on Friday when the Alipore weather office recorded a maximum temperature of 38.6°C. The city will continue to reel under heat and humid conditions with no rain on the Met radar for now.The mercury might go up slightly further in the next two to three days.The maximum temperature on Friday was a tad up from Thursday's 37.4°C. Before Friday, April 23 was the hottest summer day when the maximum temperature spiked to 38.2°C. While a few powerful nor'wester spells kept the mercury under check for the past two weeks, it started rising above the normal mark from Wednesday.Along with the surging mercury, what made the weather high on the discomfort index was the high humid condition. Around the time when Alipore recorded the maximum temperature of 38.6°C, the real-feel shot up to around 45°.During the day, the mercury inched close to the 40°C mark in Kolkata's surroundings, including Salt Lake, Dum Dum, and Howrah, where the maximum temperature shot past 39°C. The Met office said the mercury could touch the 40°C mark in these areas by Saturday.According to a special bulletin from IMD, the city is currently getting the dry westerly to north-westerly wind at the lower levels, due to which the hot and humid conditions will prevail for now. Also, in view of the availability of moisture and heating impact, there is a possibility of isolated thunderstorm activity over some districts of Bengal from Sunday onwards, said the bulletin."We expect thundershower activities between Sunday and Monday in a few districts, including the neighbouring South and North 24 Parganas," said a Met official.The last time Kolkata received significant rain was around 10 days ago. Even if there were some light spells later along with gusty wind, the absence of significant rain fuelled the mercury to soar. Climatologically, Kolkata should get seven rainy days in May."It is not unusual for the maximum temperature to reach 40°C in May in Kolkata. This year, so far, it has not reached this high, and we expect it to remain below 40°C for now," said the Met official.Even the minimum temperature, at 28.9°C, was also a climb of close to two notches from the previous day. The Met office has predicted the maximum and minimum temperatures to hover around 39°C and 29°C, respectively, on Saturday.