Forecast for likely rain in Kolkata from Wednesday

Kolkata, Sep 29 (IANS) The Meteorological (MeT) office on Monday forecast mostly clear skies for the next two days, lifting the festive spirit of Kolkata, which has been experiencing a prolonged spell of rains during Durga Puja.

However, the MeT department warned that the weather will change drastically from Wednesday night (Navami) and the city is likely to experience heavy rain on Thursday, that is Dashami, the last day of Durga Puja.

An official of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore said, "Yesterday, the sky remained clear with one or two spells of light rain recorded. Today and tomorrow, the sky will continue to remain clear, and there is no forecast of heavy rain. However, under the influence of a low-pressure area in the Bay of Bengal, the city might experience rain from Wednesday night. Heavy rain is likely on Thursday and Friday."

At the same time, there is no possibility of heavy rain in most districts of South Bengal on Monday. However, scattered light to moderate rain has been predicted. Rain with thunderstorm and lightning may occur in four districts of South Bengal -- South 24 Parganas, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Jhargram.

On the day of Ashtami (Tuesday), rain with thunderstorm and lightning may occur in East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia districts. Scattered light to moderate rain may occur in the remaining districts of South Bengal.

In the districts of North Bengal on Monday, rain with thunderstorm and lightning may occur in some areas of South Dinajpur and Malda districts. Rain is likely in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur and Malda districts on Tuesday. Heavy rain is likely to occur in almost all the northern districts after Dashami.

The weather department earlier said that a cyclonic circulation is likely to form in the North Andaman Sea on Ashtami. On Navami, it may further intensify and turn into a low-pressure area. As a result, rain with thunderstorms is predicted in all districts of South Bengal, including Kolkata, on Navami. Rain is also predicted on Dashami. Fishermen have been prohibited from going to the north and central Bay of Bengal adjacent to the Odisha, West Bengal and Bangladesh coasts on Thursday and Friday due to rough seas.

--IANS

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