Squalls at 78 and 72kmph hit Kolkata, uproot trees

KOLKATA: Darkness descended over Kolkata before sunset on Tuesday as rain-threatening cloud columns engulfed the sky.
Even though the cloud mass did not cause much rain, the city was lashed by two powerful back-to-back squalls that dragged the mercury down by about 11 degrees, bringing respite from the scorching heat that prevailed during the day. It also left several trees uprooted that blocked roads, halting traffic across central Kolkata. Two flights had to be diverted. The Met office expects more such thundershowers on Wednesday and Thursday as well.
Till 8.30pm on Tuesday, the city received 0.8 mm rain.
Trees were uprooted in several places across the city. Full-grown trees were uprooted at places like S N Banerjee Road, Red Road, Ironside Road, Tollygunge Circular Road among others. Besides uprooting of large trees, branches of trees also fell in and around the Maidan area and several other places.
A cloud column around 20 km tall and 10 km in width originating from Bihar-Jharkhand area had crossed over to Bengal. According to Met officials, by the time it neared Kolkata it had lost much of its volume, and got reduced to less than half of its original size. It made easier for the squalls to blow the cloud columns away fast. "The width of the cloud column was only about 5 km by the time it reached as it had lost much of its volume en-route the city. Hence its movement was fast over Kolkata sky. As a result it did not cause widespread rain with intensity," said GK Das director (weather) at Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata.
A squall gusting up to 78 kmph coming from the northerwestrly direction swept across the city at 5.07 pm, maintaining this maximum wind speed for a minute. Seven minutes earlier another squall from the same direction hit Dum Dum at a maximum speed of 72 kmph. The maximum temperature that had soared to 37.6 degrees Celsius plunged to about 26 degrees.
"We are expecting good thunderstorm activities in Kolkata on both Wednesday and Thursday. A cyclonic circulation likely over Jharkhand area has made the conditions all the more favourable for rain," added Das.
Several parts of Kolkata received a drizzle again late in the evening. It continued till 11 pm in south Kolkata.
At least two incoming flights were diverted to Bhubaneshwar and Ranchi and multiple flights hovered over the Kolkata sky. Several outgoing flights were delayed.
The strong wind blowing at the airport also toppled a cargo trolley in the airside area but none were injured. Even as Kolkata escaped only with the wind threat, parts of south Bengal were hit by moderate to heavy rain in the evening.