Coastal areas in state to get heavy rains this weekend, says MeT

KOLKATA: A low pressure has formed over east central Bay of Bengal, which may turn into a depression by Friday bringing heavy rainfall in the coastal areas during the weekend, predicted the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.

The MeT office also said that the coastal areas of Bengal and Odisha will receive heavy rainfall from Friday to Sunday. 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. City's sky partially remained cloudy on Wednesday and high discomfort levels continued to haunt the city dwellers. Discomfort caused by high relative humidity will continue to bother people in South Bengal districts in the next 48 hours.

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 ~ June, July and August. There may be heavy rainfall in various south Bengal districts after mid September. There is a possibility of low pressure over Bay of Bengal at the end of September. The weather experts are not however sure whether it will bring heavy rainfall during Durga puja. It may be mentioned here that the month of August also concluded as a rain deficit month. 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.

Five districts in North Bengal ~ Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Alipurduar will receive scattered rainfall. The intensity of rainfall will increase on Saturday. Sporadic rainfall lashed some parts of the city and it's adjoining south Bengal on Monday afternoon giving some temporary relief from the sultry weather. Discomfort continued to prevail in the city from the next day. Scattered rainfall in some parts of south Bengal fails to bring any relief from the discomfort weather caused by high humidity level.