Updated on March 19, 2016 5:17 PM (IST) : Pre-Monsoon showers in Kolkata bring relief from heat
Ghost of rain is back again to haunt cricket fans, who are eagerly waiting to watch India-Pakistan clash at Eden Gardens in Kolkata today evening.
Light to moderate rain and thundershowers have started lashing the capital city once again.
After recording couple of thundershowers in early morning, weather over Kolkata had cleared up and bright sunshine was witnessed during the noon hours.
However, morning weather activity had left lot of moisture in the air. With the temperatures increasing during the day along with increased moisture level, convective clouds had once again developed over the region.
But let us not loose the hope as Skymet Weather predicts that rain activity is likely to stop by 7:00 pm. But there are good chances of delay of 15-20 minutes in the commencement of the match.
Updated on March 19, 2016 1:17 PM (IST) : Thundershowers lash Kolkata ahead of India-Pakistan match
After remaining dry for last few days, thundershowers lashed Kolkata on Saturday morning.
This activity took place just before the highly charged cricket match between arch rivals India and Pakistan that is scheduled for today evening at 07:00 pm.
According to Skymet Weather, convective clouds had developed over the city, leading to thundershower activity. Since such types of clouds have a shelf life of an hour or so, the spell only lasted for a very brief period.
Now the clouds have already moved away in east direction, paving way for clear weather and bright sunshine during the day. Sky may again become partly cloudy as we progress towards the evening. However, it will not pose any threat of rain during the match.
Dry weather conditions will return to city in full swing Sunday onwards.
Updated on March 16, 2016 1:17 PM (IST): Pre-Monsoon arrives early in Kolkata, brings hailstorm
March is the transition period for Kolkata. First week is the time for overlapping winter pattern while the last week receives purely pre-Monsoon showers. The two week in between forms the interim period. During this time, the weather condition keeps oscillating between winter and pre-Monsoon.
Kolkata does not receive any hailstorm in the winter months and such events generally occur in the month of April. Nevertheless, the city witnessed thundershowers accompanied by hail on Wednesday morning between 4 and 5 am. The city recorded about 10 mm of rainfall.
This could be regarded as the first hailstorm of the season. Undoubtedly, the hailstorm season has arrived pretty early in Kolkata. Such weather events are no surprise for Peninsular India but definitely so for Kolkata.
Hailstorm in Kolkata requires the confluence of two different air masses rather than just one weather system. Just as the situation being prevalent at present, it requires the meeting of dry winds from the Gangetic plains with moist winds from the Bay of Bengal.
Pre-Monsoon showers increase from March to April and finally May witnesses 137 mm of rain on an average in Kolkata.
Typical characteristics of pre-Monsoon rain involve intense and sharp showers, quickly bring down temperatures. Hailstorm only temporarily affects temperatures and increases the chill factor but they are not good enough for bringing down the day maximums. Maximum temperature recorded in Kolkata on Tuesday was 33.8 degree Celsius and it will remain around 33 degrees today as well.
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