Two ‘isolated’ spells of storms may hit city: MeT

Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) predicted that there is a ‘high chance’ of two isolated spells of thunderstorms in the city between March 18 and 20. The spells may last for 15-30 minutes each. People in both North and South Bengal districts may witness hailstorms accompanied by winds on the weekend.

There will be a gush of winds measuring 30-40 kmph sweeping through various north Bengal districts like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Jalpaiguri.

There may be lightning in Malda, North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur. South Bengal districts like Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, West Midnapore, East and West Burdwan, Birbhum and Murshidabad will receive thundershowers and winds measuring around 40-50 kmph will be sweeping through in these regions.

The city may also get rain in the next 24 hours. A senior MeT official said it was too early to ascertain if the storms will correspond with nor’wester conditions. On Wednesday, the Alipore Met office issued updates on thunderstorm predictions in Bengal, alerting of the need for safety precautions in South 24-Parganas, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Cooch Behar.

The Met office advised residents to stay indoors and use the Damini App to track real-time alerts.