KOLKATA: With the mercury inching up, Saturday turned out to be the warmest of the year so far. The maximum temperature touched 35.4 degrees Celsius even as the sun beat down mercilessly on a scorching weekend afternoon. After a relatively pleasant fortnight during which the mercury had been kept in check by repeated thundershowers, Kolkatans were sent scurrying for cover.It could remain dry and hot over the next 48 hours, predicted the Met office.The week had been predicted to be warm. With pre monsoon showers drying up, there is nothing to keep the spiralling heat in check. "Unless you have thundershowers or systems that trigger rain, the maximum tem perature will gradually go up. This is the normal presummer trend and it has been no different this time," said G K Das, director, Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC). As per the IMD prediction, the mercury will hover around the 35-36 degreemark till March 31. Even though there are no systems in sight now, a thundershower has not been ruled out."A low-pressure trough exists between north Bengal and Assam but it's not likely to have an impact on the weather of south Bengal. A system, however, could develop in the course of the week leading to a thundershower. But as of now, there is no such possibility," said Das.This has been the wettest March in a decade in Kolkata. With three thundershowers and two squalls striking the city, the maximum temperature has remained below 32 degrees. Kolkata normally has four wet days in March but it has been fewer in recent years. This time, the city has already had five rainy days. But it was not a squall every time.On Friday, the maximum temperature had touched 35.1 degrees Celsius.The IMD had predicted 36 degrees on Saturday. But eventually the mercury touched 35.4.

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