Kolkata, Sep 7 (IANS) The Met Department on Monday issued an orange alert for rain and thunderstorms in six south Bengal districts for the next few days.
According to a Met Department official, a low-pressure area over West Bengal is still active, and the monsoon trough is playing along with it. As a result, rain may increase in large areas of both north and south Bengal this week.
The monsoon trough has entered West Bengal via Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand, and extends eastwards up to Tripura, it said.
There is a low-pressure area over Uttar Pradesh and adjoining areas. The cyclonic circulation is at an altitude of 5.8 kilometres above sea level. In addition, a trough extends from Gujarat to northern Bangladesh, which has passed over this low-pressure area, and due to this, the possibility of thunderstorms is increasing.
There is a warning of heavy rain in six districts — East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Nadia, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, and Hooghly — on Tuesday. In addition, there will be rain with lightning in the rest of the districts.
Heavy rain is likely in Birbhum and West Burdwan districts on Monday too. In addition, an orange alert for thunderstorms with lightning has been issued in Purulia and Bankura. Scattered thunderstorms will also continue in the rest of the districts of south Bengal. Rain will continue in almost all the districts till Wednesday. Separate heavy rain warnings are in place for East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia, and Bankura districts.
Meanwhile, there is no possibility of heavy rain in Kolkata for now. However, scattered thunderstorms may continue till Wednesday. Along with light to moderate rain, gusty winds may blow at a speed of 30 to 40 kilometres per hour.
On Monday, the minimum temperature in Kolkata was 28.7 degrees Celsius, which is 2.4 degrees above normal. On Sunday, the maximum temperature in the city was 32.4 degrees Celsius, which is normal.
In north Bengal, heavy rain will continue in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts till Tuesday. Rain will continue in Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar districts, and may increase in Malda district on Wednesday. Scattered rain will continue in the remaining districts for now. However, rain may increase in the region over the weekend. A warning of heavy rain has been issued again in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts from Friday to Sunday.
–IANS
sch/vd
