Southern Bengal, parts of northern districts sizzle as heatwave continues

Heatwave prevailed in south Bengal and many parts of the northern districts of West Bengal on Sunday as the Met department forecast it will continue, particularly in southern districts, till May 2. The day's maximum temperature was recorded at 44.3 degrees Celsius, 7.5 deg C above normal, at Kalaikunda in Paschim Medinipur district, the department said in a bulletin. At Panagarh in Paschim Bardhaman district, the temperature was 44.2 deg C, followed by Bankura 43.5 deg C. In Kolkata, the maximum temperature was 41.3 deg C, which was 5.7 deg C above normal. In the relatively cooler northern parts of the state, Balurghat and Malda recorded maximum temperatures of 41 deg C each. In Darjeeling and Kalimpong, the mercury, however, read 22.4 deg C and 25.2 deg C, respectively, the MeT office said. "Mainly dry westerly to northwesterly winds at lower levels continue to prevail over the region. Due to strong solar insolation, the heatwave condition is very likely to prevail over the dist