Weatherman predicts rain, thunderstorms in South Bengal districts in next 24 hours
Kolkata: The Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore predicted that thunderstorms will occur in several parts of South Bengal in the next 24 hours. The weather office’s warning was issued following the persistence of an upper air cyclonic circulation, which was positioned over east Bihar on June 3 and over north Bangladesh and adjoining areas at 0.9 km above mean sea level on Wednesday afternoon.
“Various districts across South and North Bengal are expected to experience thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds and heavy rainfall. People in several South Bengal districts may witness a gusty wind of 30-40 kmph,” a weather official said.
Thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph are likely to affect isolated areas in Murshidabad, East and West Burdwan, East and West Midnapore, North 24-Parganas and South 24-Parganas. Other districts in South Bengal may see gusty winds of 30-40 kmph along with light to moderate rain.
Some parts of the districts like North Dinajpur, Kalimpong, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar in north Bengal may also witness thunderstorms with lightning, gusty winds of 40-50 kmph. The MeT office also stated that as there are no immediate signs of monsoon onset in south Bengal, a dry spell will persist in most of the South Bengal districts. People in south Bengal districts will experience hot conditions later this week as the mercury will shoot up.
The low-pressure area that had influenced recent conditions of rainfall was gradually moving away. Monsoon rains have arrived early in North Bengal, southern districts, including Kolkata, remain outside its reach.
The southwest monsoon entered parts of North Bengal 10 days ahead of the schedule. 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. Monsoons enter the south usually on June 10.
