Heavy rain alert for South Bengal, fishermen advised to return

Continuing westward, the deep depression is expected to reach near the coasts of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh by Wednesday morning. Consequently, heavy rain may persist in several districts of West Bengal from Tuesday through Friday.

Heavy rain is scheduled to begin on Tuesday in key South Bengal districts, including North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, and Purba Medinipur. From Wednesday through Friday, scattered heavy rainfall is expected across multiple districts, accompanied by squally winds gusting to 40–50 km/h. The India Meteorological Department has issued an orange alert for severe weather in four districts.

Stronger storm activity is anticipated in North 24 Parganas on Friday and Saturday, and in Paschim Medinipur on Thursday. South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur will experience continuous heavy rain from Wednesday to Saturday. Additionally, isolated heavy rainfall is likely in Birbhum, Purba Bardhaman, Murshidabad, and Nadia.

Meteorologists expect the sea to become rough starting Monday. Wind speeds over the east-central and adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal may reach 45–55 km/h on Monday and intensify to 50–60 km/h on Tuesday. Near the central Bay of Bengal, gusty winds could reach up to 70 km/h, with high winds persisting through Wednesday and Thursday.

Along the coast of West Bengal, squally winds of 40–50 km/h are expected from Wednesday to Friday, creating treacherous sea conditions. Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea from Monday to Friday, and those currently at sea must return to the coast by Monday.

Rain to pick up in North Bengal

Rainfall has temporarily subsided in North Bengal, but it is expected to pick up again starting Wednesday. Heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri from Thursday, and in Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, and Uttar Dinajpur from Friday, continuing through Saturday. Dakshin Dinajpur and Malda will see scattered thunderstorms, though heavy rain is not expected there for now.

Kolkata is also unlikely to experience heavy rainfall at present. On Sunday morning, Kolkata recorded a minimum temperature of 26.4 degrees Celsius (0.1 degrees above normal). Saturday’s maximum temperature was 32.4 degrees Celsius (0.4 degrees below normal).

According to the Daily Weather Summary issued by the Regional Meteorological Centre, Kolkata, for West Bengal, based on data recorded over the past 24 hours ending at 08.30 am, Alipore, Kolkata recorded a maximum temperature of 32.4 degrees Celsius, a minimum temperature of 24.6 degrees Celsius, and 7.5 mm of rainfall.

Over the past 24 hours, the state average cumulative rainfall was 6.7 mm, a -16 per cent departure from the long-period average. In North Bengal, very light rainfall occurred at one or two places over Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, and Darjeeling districts.

The major amounts of rainfall recorded across South Bengal districts included significant precipitation in Basirhat (North 24 Parganas) at 60 mm, Sagar Island (South 24 Parganas) at 58.6 mm, Durgapur(cwc) (West Burdwan) at 34.2 mm, Salar (Murshidabad) at 32 mm, Canning (South 24 Parganas) at 26.6 mm, Digha (East Midnapore) at 26.5 mm, and Contai (East Midnapore) at 25 mm.

Moderate to light rainfall was reported at several other locations: Kalaikunda (17.6 mm), Midnapore (17.4 mm), Sriniketan (16.6 mm), Amfu Kakdwip (11.8 mm), Amfu Kharagpur (9.4 mm), Mohanpur (9.0 mm), Panagarh (8.0 mm), Tusuma (7.8 mm), Alipore (7.5 mm), Bankura(cwc) (7.2 mm), Simulia (7.2 mm), Barrackpur (5.2 mm), Kalyani (5.2 mm), Midnapore(cwc) (5.2 mm), Saltlake (3.9 mm), and Diamond Harbour (3.8 mm).

District-wise rainfall departure percentages show largely excess rainfall in North 24 Parganas (18.1 mm realised, +196 per cent), South 24 Parganas (25.2 mm realised, +193 per cent), Purba Medinipur (18.4 mm realised, +72 per cent), Paschim Medinipur (11.7 mm realised, +70 per cent), and Murshidabad (8 mm realised, +60 per cent).

Kolkata recorded normal rainfall (7.5 mm realised, +1 per cent) and Paschim Burdwan saw normal rainfall (7.4 mm realised, +5 per cent). Purulia (3 mm, -32 per cent), Bankura (3.1 mm, -44 per cent), and Howrah (2.3 mm, -52 per cent) recorded deficient rainfall.

Largely deficient conditions prevailed in Jhargram (0.5 mm, -93 per cent), Birbhum (1.4 mm, -88 per cent), Nadia (1.7 mm, -75 per cent), Kalimpong (0.5 mm, -95 per cent), Darjeeling (0.1 mm, -99 per cent), and Jalpaiguri (0 mm, -99 per cent). Districts reporting no rainfall (-10 per cent) include Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Malda, Purba Burdwan, and Hooghly.