Rainy weekend and wet Assembly results day likely in Kolkata, predicts Met
Telegraph | 2 May 2026
The day of the Assembly poll results could see Calcutta and neighbouring districts lashed by rain, the Met office has said.
Two successive thunderstorms struck the city on Wednesday and Thursday, each bringing heavy rainfall.
“The upper air cyclonic circulation over Gangetic West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh persists. Another upper air cyclonic circulation is over southeast Bangladesh and the neighbourhood. The wind pattern is favourable for more thunderstorms across Bengal. In Calcutta and neighbouring areas, the intensity of rain and winds is expected to increase between Sunday and Tuesday. Monday is most likely to see the maximum impact,” said an official at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.
The previous thunderstorms were Nor’westers, the Met office said. The clouds formed over the Chota Nagpur Plateau near the Bengal-Jharkhand border before moving towards Calcutta. On Wednesday, Alipore recorded around 52mm of rain and on Thursday, around 32mm.
A squall passed over Dum Dum between 8.24pm and 8.25pm on Thursday, the Met office said, with maximum wind speeds touching 55kmph. Wind speeds were lower in Alipore.
The showers have brought relief from the heat. On Friday, the maximum temperature was 29.2° Celsius, marginally higher than the previous day but still six notches below normal for this time of the year.
Only about a week ago, the maximum temperature was above 36° Celsius.
The maximum temperature is expected to rise slightly but remain below normal over the next few days, the Met official said.
“Light rain is not ruled out on Saturday. From Sunday, the intensity of showers will increase again across south Bengal. The intensity is likely to peak on Monday. Calcutta is likely to witness sharp spells of rain and winds reaching up to 60kmph on Monday,” the official said.
For that day, the forecast for south Bengal reads: “Thunderstorm, Lightning and gusty wind (speed reaching 50-60 kmph) very likely to occur at one or two places over all the districts of south Bengal.”