Nor'wester in West Bengal on 16th March 2026
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Yesterday's nor'wester (Kalboiśakhi) in West Bengal was very intense, with Bangladesh's radar indicating rainfall amounts of over 206 mm/h, which suggests that hailstorms occurred in some places (which I evidently also got, in Kolkata). The highest official wind gust was 72 km/h, which was recorded in the Alipore station. The storm also caused havoc in the district of Malda, WB. There was intense lightning activity in the storm when it hit Kolkata, and it was particularly notable for it intensified when slamming onto the city.
Anyway, the storm lasted for about four hours in the city, from 9.10 pm to 0.30 am the next day (IST).
Luckily, no tornadoes were reported.
[Image source: zoom.earth]WCT
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Yesterday's nor'wester (Kalboiśakhi) in West Bengal was very intense, with Bangladesh's radar indicating rainfall amounts of over 206 mm/h, which suggests that hailstorms occurred in some places (which I evidently also got, in Kolkata). The highest official wind gust was 72 km/h, which was recorded in the Alipore station. The storm also caused havoc in the district of Malda, WB. There was intense lightning activity in the storm when it hit Kolkata, and it was particularly notable for it intensified when slamming onto the city.
Anyway, the storm lasted for about four hours in the city, from 9.10 pm to 0.30 am the next day (IST).
Luckily, no tornadoes were reported.
[Image source: zoom.earth]@WCT Thanks for sharing this report. Storms like Kalboishakhi can indeed develop and intensify very quickly, which makes them difficult to forecast in detail. But nowcasting tools such as radar help a lot. It is also fortunate that no tornadoes were reported. Have you observed any tornadoes or other particularly unusual storm features in your area recently?
