kolkata: With the southwest monsoon arriving in Kerala Sunday, the Regional Meteorological centre in Alipore predicted scattered rainfall and thundershowers in various south Bengal districts in the next 48 hours. Rains will, however, fail to bring mercury down as the highest temperature may hover around 37-38 degree Celsius in the city.
The MeT office said that people in south Bengal may also witness Nor'wester this week. The city may also receive scattered rainfall accompanied by strong wind in the afternoon hours in the next few days. Several parts of south Bengal received rainfall in the past few days.
"A high pressure zone has been stretching over Nepal and Jharkhand. As a result, temperature may slightly go up in the city and other south Bengal districts. There may be light rainfall in various north Bengal districts. A Nor'wester is likely to hit the city and other south Bengal districts this week. The districts like Alipurduar and Coochbehar will receive slightly more rainfall," a weather official said.
The monsoon has already entered Kerala on Sunday. This is only the fourth occasion since 2010 when the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala took place before time (June 1). Monsoon arrived earlier than usual in 2010 (May 31), 2017 (May 30) and 2018 (May 29). The earliest onset over Kerala since 2005 was recorded in the year 2006, when the monsoon had arrived on May 26.
South Bengal districts witnessed a Nor'wester on Saturday last week that killed nearly seven people across Bengal. A favourable atmosphere had been created over the Bay of Bengal for Nor'wester. Most of the north Bengal districts received heavy showers in the past couple of days.
The city witnessed the first spell of Nor'wester of this season on the last day of April and received rainfall after a heat spell over 57 days in a row.
In May, the city dwellers have so far witnessed two spells of Nor'wester.
The Monsoon entered the mainland. Normally, the south-west monsoon enters Andaman-Nicobar islands on May 22. But this year Monsoon hit the Andaman-Nicobar coast much earlier.