Kolkata: The southwest monsoon on Friday advanced into West Bengal, at least four days ahead of its normal onset date and has covered some parts of the sub-Himalayan districts of the state, the MeT department said.
The weatherman forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in five North Bengal districts including Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar in the next two days. Rains will also hit Assam and Meghalaya over the next few days, the weather office said.
There is possibility of thunderstorms, lightning and light rain in the districts of Gangetic West Bengal during the next five days, it added.
"Southwest monsoon has further advanced into some parts of northwest Bay of Bengal, several more parts of northeast and east central Bay of Bengal and most parts of Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland," the MeT office said.
There is no prediction of rainfall in South Bengal yet and the districts here will continue to witness hot and humid conditions in the next couple of days as well. Various North Bengal districts received thunderstorms, lightning along with gusty winds measuring around 30-40 kmph in the past few days due to cyclonic circulation. The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore earlier predicted that weather conditions became favourable for the advance of the southwest monsoon in the state.
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.