Rain likely in South Bengal dists till Tuesday: MeT

Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore said that several south Bengal districts may receive rainfall till Tuesday but there will be no major impact of untimely rainfall on Holi festival in Kolkata on Monday.

Light rain is expected to continue in North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, Murshidabad and Nadia. The MeT office prediction said that there may be heavy rainfall in North Bengal districts till next Friday. However, the rain coupled with the wind blowing from colder regions may bring down the temperature in the city. Squally wind gusting up to 40 km/hr prevailed in almost all parts of South Bengal, including North 24-Parganas, South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, Howrah, Kolkata, Hooghly, Purulia, Jhargram, West Midnapore, Bankura, West Burdwan, East Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia in the past couple of days. A ‘Yellow alert’ for thunderstorms, lightning, heavy rain, and gusty wind (30-40 km/h) had been predicted for North Bengal districts, including Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar. The situation may improve after Tuesday.

Kolkata recorded its second-coldest day of the current month on March 20 with the maximum temperature plummeting to 21 degree Celsius, which is about seven degree Celsius below normal. The city had experienced its coldest March day in recent years on March 13 in 2003 when the lowest temperature had touched 20.3 degree Celsius.

Couple of rounds of thundershowers is likely to happen in several parts of South Bengal in the next 24 hours bringing a chance of a nor’wester squall. The MeT office predicted lightning and thunderstorm activities in South Bengal, due to strong moisture incursions from the Bay of Bengal, a trough over Northeast Madhya Pradesh and South Assam, and a cyclonic circulation over East Bangladesh.

Temperature in Sandakphu and in parts of Sikkim went below zero on Saturday. Connectivity was disrupted in Lachung, Lachen, parts of Nathula in Sikkim. Sandakphu, Falut in Darjeeling went under snow on Saturday. Sandakphu receives snowfall between December and February. The MeT officials had earlier predicted snowfall in the upper regions of Darjeeling and Sikkim with light to moderate rainfall in North Bengal.