City, other S Bengal districts to experience weekend rain

Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicted thundershowers in the city and in various South Bengal districts on Saturday and Sunday, triggered by the Nor'wester.

The city witnessed the first spell of Nor'westers of this season on the last day of April and received rainfall after a heat spell of over 57 days in a row. In May, the city dwellers have so far witnessed two spells of Nor'westers.

"There is possibility of a few spells of heavy rainfall along with strong breeze in various South Bengal districts during the weekend. This will be triggered by a spell of the Nor'wester. Monsoon is expected to hit Bengal early this year, a week in advance in all likelihood than it usually receives every year," a senior weather official said.

The southwest monsoon has already entered Andaman and Nicobar Islands last Monday. Rains triggered by the impact of Cyclone 'Asani' in various parts of the state eventually paved the way for monsoon as it arrived early this year. The MeT office earlier had predicted that monsoon would enter the South Andaman Sea late on May 15.

Monsoon may enter the mainland on May 27. Normally, the south-west monsoon enters Andaman-Nicobar Islands on May 22. After crossing the Andaman Sea, the south-west monsoon has been hovering over an area lying between

central and south Bay of Bengal.

Cyclone 'Asani' had created a favourable atmosphere for the monsoon to enter in advance. According to statistics, monsoon arrived late over the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2005, 2011, 2012. But it also arrived before time in this region in 2007, 2008 and 2010. The normal onset date for the monsoon over Kerala is June 1.

The city sky remained partially cloudy on Thursday. People, however, experienced discomfort caused by high humidity. The city on Thursday registered its lowest temperature at 29 degrees Celsius while the highest was logged at around 34.6 degrees Celsius.

Various districts in South Bengal like Murshidabad, Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan will receive heavy rainfall in the next 48 hours.

There may be huge thunderstorms and lightning in some pockets of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in the next couple of days.