Kolkata: After inching towards the 40-degree mark in the past two days, the mercury slightly dipped on Monday afternoon in Kolkata. But shortly after 10 pm, a thunderstorm with a wind speed of 63 kmph struck Kolkata, accompanied by steady rain and lightning.
It brought the mercury down by five degrees in 45 minutes, sources said. The rain continued for over an hour. The storm also struck neighbouring districts of South 24 Parganas and Howrah.
This year's maximum temperature in Kolkata climbed to 39.4°C on Sunday, and on Monday, it came down to 38.6°C. "We are expecting more thundershower activities in Kolkata and some other places between Thursday and Friday," said Met scientist H R Biswas, head of the weather forecast section at RMC. While the mercury in Kolkata has not yet breached the 40-degree mark this summer, in neighbouring Salt Lake and Dum Dum, it shot to 40.4°C and 40.8°C respectively, on Sunday. On Monday, it dipped to 39.5°C in Salt Lake but refused to go below 40°C in Dum Dum. The twin impact of the heat and humidity pushed up the discomfort level. The ‘real feel' during the day in Kolkata was higher by around 10 notches from the actual temperature. Both the maximum and minimum in Kolkata have been constantly above the normal mark in the past five to six days.