Rain-soaked Kolkata records second-lowest max temp in March in 54 years

Incessant rain since the early hours of Wednesday brought down the maximum temperature in Kolkata by a whopping 13ºC below normal as the meteorological department forecast continued inclement weather in the city until Thursday.

Wednesday's maximum temperature in Kolkata was 21.1ºC, the department said. This is the second lowest maximum temperature recorded in March since 1970. The previous lowest maximum temperature was 20.3ºC recorded on 13 March 2003, the department said.

Districts in north Bengal are likely to continue to receive light to moderate rain, accompanied by gusty wind at one or two places, until Saturday and in south Bengal until Thursday.

The unseasonal rain is the result of a trough from northeast Madhya Pradesh to south Assam with embedded cyclonic circulation over east Bangladesh and strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal. The minimum temperature in the city was five degrees below normal at 18.7ºC, the weather office said.

The metropolis recorded 18.6 mm rainfall in 24 hours until 5.30 pm on Wednesday as light to moderate rain continued from the early hours of the day, it said.

The weather office forecast a generally cloudy sky with rain or thundershowers at one or two places in all districts of south Bengal, including Kolkata, until Thursday.

Thunderstorms with lightning along with gusty wind, hailstorms and heavy rain are very likely to occur at one or two places in North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda districts until Thursday, the office said in its forecast for north Bengal. It also said thunderstorms with lightning, accompanied by light to moderate rain are likely in all districts of north Bengal until 23 March.