Kolkata: The southwest monsoon has already entered parts of North Bengal on Thursday, 10 days ahead of the schedule and it is likely to enter deeper into Bengal in the next one or two days, the IMD said.
Monsoon’s usual arrival date in Kolkata and other parts of South Bengal is around June 10. The weather office has however predicted that people in South Bengal may witness excessive heat conditions from June 2. The severe hot and humid conditions may prevail till June 7-9. There may be excessive rainfall in North Bengal this year.
“The southwest monsoon already entered Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar. The monsoon has also entered small parts of South Dinajpur and North Dinajpur districts,” said the IMD official. “Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon over some more parts of Bengal during the next one or two days,” the IMD said in a bulletin.
The southwest monsoon hit Kerala on May 24, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009, when it reached the southern state on May 23, the IMD has said. Normally, the southwest monsoon makes its onset over Kerala by June 1.
A well-marked low-pressure system over the northwest Bay of Bengal has already weakened and situated over Meghalaya adjacent to Himalaya. This has contributed to the rainfall in North Bengal. The low pressure has played a role of catalyst for paving the way for the monsoon.
Some South Bengal districts will receive scattered rainfall accompanied with strong gusts in the next two days. The city and various other South Bengal districts received showers from clouds pushed up by the low pressure.
The showers also kept the mercury well below the normal mark for the past few days. The mercury may, however, go up soon, the weather office warned.