Heavy rain, hail throw life out of gear in Hills; more rains in city till Thursday

Kolkata: Several parts of South Bengal received light rainfall on Tuesday while heavy rain lashed some districts in North Bengal, disrupting normal lives in some pockets.

In South Bengal, almost all the districts remained cloudy since morning, with several parts receiving some spells of light shower.

The city and its adjoining districts like North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas and Howrah witnessed light rain in the morning hours. The coastal district of East Midnapore, on the other hand, received moderate rainfall.

Meanwhile, thunder, rain and hail threw life out of gear in the Darjeeling district on Tuesday. Similar weather conditions will prevail for the next 24 hours, stated the MeT office.

Rains accompanied by icy winds resulted in the temperature plummeting in the Darjeeling Hills. Darjeeling, Kurseong and Kalimpong witnessed rainfall throughout the day, along with Siliguri. Kurseong and its adjacent areas also witnessed hail, along with Tiger Hill in Ghoom. Light snowfall occurred in the higher reaches, including Sandakphu.

It will continue raining in the South Bengal districts as well. There is a prediction of hailstorm in North Bengal, while some of the South Bengal districts may witness thunderstorm accompanied by lightning.

"The situation will improve from Thursday. An interaction between the westerly and easterly winds has contributed towards the rainfall. A low pressure trough that has formed over Uttar Pradesh and Bihar has further aggravated the situation. There has been an incursion of moisture into the mainland from the Bay of Bengal, following the formation of low pressure trough over Bihar and UP. The North Eastern states will also receive rainfall," a weather official said.

The weather office also said that there will be more rainfall in Malda, North and South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri in North Bengal and Murshidabad, Nadia, North and South 24-Parganas in South Bengal on Wednesday. There may be one or two spells of thundershower in the city as well.

The lowest temperature in the city remained at 19.7 degree Celsius on Tuesday, while the highest temperature hovered around 28 degree Celsius. The relative humidity, meanwhile, was recorded between 51-98 percent in the city.

The rainfall, however, will have no major impact on the temperature in the state.