Nor'wester in state brings down mercury, as well as trees; damages vehicles

PTI, Kolkata, May 15, 2023 : A nor’wester hit the southern districts of West Bengal, including Kolkata, on Monday evening, bringing down trees and damaging a few vehicles as wind speeds reached 84 kmph.

Police, however, said no injury has been reported so far.

The Met department said the squall, recorded at its Alipore observatory in Kolkata, lasted for three minutes from 5.41 pm and had a maximum wind gust of 84 kmph.

The squall bore a maximum wind gust of 62 kmph at Dumdum in northern part of the city and lasted one minute at 6 pm, it said.

Besides Kolkata, the nor’wester hit other south Bengal districts including Purulia, Bankura, Birbhum, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Howrah, Nadia and South and North 24 Parganas, the weatherman said.

Light to moderate rain accompanied the squall in various districts, including in Kolkata, it said.

The squall brought down a number of trees in Maidan area near Victoria Memorial and in Lake Gardens area in south Kolkata, damaging a few cars.

Disaster Management Group personnel were deployed to remove the felled trees and clear the roads.

The nor’wester, occurring during evening peak hours, caused heavy traffic snarls in the city, as felled trees blocked roads in some places.