Squall brings down mercury in Kolkata by 5 degrees, more thunderstorms likely

A restless night of roaring winds swept through Kolkata, as a fierce squall clocking speeds of up to 72 kmph ushered in an unexpected chill, pulling temperatures down and briefly reviving the fading touch of winter.

By Tuesday morning, the city awoke to a markedly cooler air, with the minimum temperature plunging by over five degrees — from 23.6°C the previous day to 18.4°C — well below seasonal norms. The sudden drop followed a spell of gusty winds and moderate rain, transforming the city’s springtime warmth into a fleeting winter-like calm.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore, the unsettled skies are far from done. Moisture-laden winds streaming in from the Bay of Bengal are fuelling a chain of thunderstorms and rain that are expected to linger across south Bengal until Saturday.

A warning has been issued for thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds of 30–40 kmph across several districts, including North and South 24-Parganas, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Nadia, Birbhum, Murshidabad, and Kolkata itself. As the week progresses, the intensity of rainfall is likely to build, with light to moderate showers and thunderstorm activity forecast between 19 March and 21 March across multiple districts.

In some areas, squally winds may intensify further, reaching speeds of 50–60 kmph, while by Saturday, rain and thunderstorms are expected to sweep across nearly all districts of south Bengal.

The northern districts, too, remain under a brooding sky. A ‘yellow alert’ has been sounded for Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, North and South Dinajpur, and Malda, with light to moderate rain and thunderstorms likely to persist over the next five days.

For now, as clouds gather and winds whisper of more rain to come, Bengal stands poised between seasons — where spring yields, however briefly, to the lingering breath of a retreating winter.

With IANS inputs