Brace for a rainy Mahalaya this year as IMD issues yellow alert in West Bengal

In South Bengal, many districts are on a yellow alert for thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph until Wednesday

Written by Anisha Ghosh

Updated: September 19, 2025 05:14 PM IST

3 min read

In South Bengal, many districts are under yellow alert until September 24 for thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued fresh alerts for West Bengal, saying that rain and thunderstorms will continue across the state until Wednesday. Both orange and yellow alerts have been placed for several districts, raising concerns of waterlogging, traffic disruption, and risks in hilly areas.

In South Bengal, many districts are under yellow alert until September 24 for thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph. The districts include Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Purulia, Bankura, Purba and Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Nadia. On September 23, Purba Midnapore, Paschim Midnapore and South 24 Parganas may also see heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) along with thunderstorms.

In North Bengal, the conditions are more severe with both yellow and orange alerts in place. On September 19, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar are under an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm), while Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar are likely to receive heavy rainfall (7-11 cm). Widespread rain will continue across the region through the week, though intensity may reduce after September 21, which is Mahalaya.

The IMD also reported in its special bulletin that North Bengal witnessed very heavy rainfall from Thursday to Friday, with the highest amounts recorded at Chengmari/Diana in Jalpaiguri (17 cm), Saraswatipur Tea Estate (15 cm), Chel (15 cm), Chalouni Tea Estate (14 cm), Jaybirpara Tea Estate in Alipurduar (14 cm) and Washabarie Tea Estate (14 cm), while several other tea estates and towns in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar reported between 7 and 13 cm of rain. In contrast, South Bengal received lighter rain, with districts such as Purulia (5 cm) Purba Bardhaman (4 cm), Bankura (3), Birbhum (3 cm), Murshidabad (3 cm) and 3 cm in Paschim Bardhaman as well.

“An east-west trough runs from northwest Uttar Pradesh to east Bangladesh across Bihar, Sub Himalayan West Bengal at 0.9 km above mean sea level. Under the presence of the above system and due to strong moisture incursion, widespread light to moderate rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely over the districts of North Bengal. Light to moderate rainfall at many places with thunderstorms and lightning activity are very likely to occur over districts of South Bengal,” read the midday bulletin issued by the Regional Meteorological Department on Friday.

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