Dhaka woke up to a rainy morning Wednesday bringing relief for the residents from scorching heat, but two hours of showers in large parts of the city brought miseries as well leading to water logging and rush-hour traffic snarls.
The worst affected were the office-goers and school-going children as rush-hour traffic crawled in several busy stretches of the densely populated metropolis due to the unexpected summer rain.
The weather department recorded 44mm of rainfall between 6.30am and 8.30am, which it attributed to a midnight nor’wester, and predicted light to moderate showers in large parts of the country, including the capital city, in the next 48 hours.
According to the weatherman, the windspeed was recorded at 70km per hour in the capital during the nor’wester.
Besides Dhaka, the nor’wester swept across the districts of Rangpur, Naogaon, Kurigram, Dinajpur, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Hatia, Cumilla, Noakhali, Swandip, Rangamati, Faridpur and Rajbari.
The average speed of the wind with hailstorms was 55km per hour across the country during the nor’wester, according to the weather department.
Md Abul Kalam Mallik, a meteorologist at the Bangladesh Meteorological Department, said that a maximum of 60mm rainfall was recorded in Rangpur district while the wind speed was 78km per hour.
The internal river ports have been asked to hoist ‘riverine warning signal No 2’, the official added.
According to the Met office, the showers may continue in Dhaka, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Rajbari, Faridpur, Noakhali, Hatia and many parts of the country on Wednesday.
The weather forecast from the Met office on Tuesday said that a trough of westerly low laid over the sub-Himalayan West Bengal and adjoining areas.
