City to witness light-to-moderate showers during weekend: MeT

Kolkata: Rains may play spoilsport for shoppers this weekend. The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore said that there may be light-to-moderate rainfall in various parts of Kolkata and other South Bengal districts on Saturday and Sunday, amid the possibility of a depression.

A low pressure has formed over east central Bay of Bengal, which has gained further strength. It is expected to turn into a depression in the next 24 hours, thereby bringing heavy rainfall in the coastal areas during the weekend.

Apart from the coastal areas of Bengal and Odisha, some of the western parts of Bengal may also receive heavy rainfall. The districts like South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore and also West Midnapore will receive heavy spells of rainfall, while Jhargram may receive scattered rainfall. Kolkata, Howrah and various parts of South Bengal will receive light to moderate rainfall in the weekend. Rainfall may be accompanied by a strong wind measuring around 35-40 Kmph, MeT office said.

City dwellers on Thursday witnessed a bright sunny day. On Wednesday, the city's sky remained partially cloudy. High discomfort levels continued to haunt the city dwellers. Discomfort has been caused by high relative humidity, which will continue to bother people in South Bengal districts in the next 24 hours as well. Five districts in North Bengal—Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar and Alipurduar— will receive light-to-moderate rainfall in the next 48 hours. The intensity of rainfall will increase on Saturday.

The city on Thursday registered its lowest temperature at 28 degree Celsius while the highest temperature stood at 35.2 degree Celsius. Weather officials are not ruling out the possibility of rainfall at the beginning of October as there has been a rain deficit in the three consecutive months of June, July and August. There may be heavy rainfall in various South Bengal districts after mid September, forecast the MeT office.

According to the MeT office, the state received around 293 mm rainfall in August, which is 56 mm behind normal. Among the rainy season consisting of four months, around 324 mm less rainfall was reported in the first three months. Kolkata on an average receives around 310 mm rainfall in September. It is yet to be seen how much rainfall it receives by the end

of September.