Rain ends dry spell, brings relief from scorcher

KOLKATA: A thundershower on Thursday evening ended a torturous dry spell bringing relief to the citizens desperate for a break after a fortnight’s scorcher. The Nor’Wester accompanied by severe lightening brought the much-needed respite from heat and humid and pushed down the mercury. So intense was the rain that flight services were disrupted for over an hour.The Met office predicts more rain in the days ahead.
“A strong trough extending from North Bengal to South Bengal had facilitated the formation of thunderclouds that finally triggered the rain. We expect the duration and the amount to be significant enough to drag the mercury down by a few notches. Finally there is relief from the sweltering weather,” said G C Debnath, director of Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata.
There was no indication of a thundershower till late afternoon. Though the Met department had issued No’rwester warning for Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum and Burdwan as early as 1pm, there was no indication of it striking the city. Even an hour later, the thunder squall warning was sounded for West Midnapore, Nadia, Howrah, Hooghly and North 24-Parganas.
But, all these while the meteorologists were keeping a close watch on the movement of the thunder clouds on the Doppler radar. By 3pm, weather scientists were sure that the approaching thundershower would hit parts of Kolkata and South 24-Parganas between 4.50pm and 8.30pm and issued a warning.
At the airport, though, the thunderstorm created quite a stir disrupting flights. Four flights were diverted and five flights had to abort landing at the last moment and pull away again to approach afresh.
With the weather remaining treacherous, an Air India flight from Kathmandu was diverted to Dhaka while a Regent Air flight from Chittagong returned to the Bangladesh port city. Two other domestic flights, one from Delhi and another from Bagdogra, were diverted. Among the rest, five flights that attempted to land had to go around as the conditions kept fluctuating. The situation finally improved around 6.45pm but the disruption left a trail of delays in arrivals as well as takeoffs.
The Met office predicted thundershowers on Friday and Saturday as well with the day temperature hovering around 35°C while the night temperature oscillating between 27°C and 29°C in the next few days.
Traffic movement was disrupted in Behala after branches of trees fell on the approach way to Alipore and Majherhat bridge. Trains were also stopped in the Budge-Budge section.