Rain-soaked Kolkata records 54 years' 2nd-lowest max temperature in March

Incessant rain since early hours of Wednesday brought down the maximum temperature in Kolkata by a whopping 13 degrees Celsius below normal as the Met forecast continued inclement weather in the city till Thursday.

Wednesday's maximum temperature in Kolkata was 21.1 degrees Celsius, the Met department said.

This is the second lowest maximum temperature in March from 1970. The last lowest maximum temperature in March was 20.3 degrees Celsius on March 13, 2003, the Met 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, till Saturday and in south Bengal till Thursday.

This resulted from 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 18.7 degrees Celsius, the Met said.

The metropolis recorded 18.6 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 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 thundershower at one or two places in all districts of south Bengal, including Kolkata, till 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 till Thursday, the Met said in its forecast for north Bengal.

It said that thunderstorms with lightning, accompanied by light to moderate rain are likely in all districts of north Bengal till March 23.