The Met Department on Monday issued an orange alert for heavy rain and thunderstorms across several districts of south Bengal, with unsettled weather expected to continue through the week. The weather office attributed the increased rainfall activity to an active low-pressure area over West Bengal and the monsoon trough extending across the region.
An orange alert has been issued for heavy rain in East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Nadia, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas and Hooghly on Tuesday. Other districts of south Bengal are also expected to receive rain accompanied by lightning. Heavy rain is likely in Birbhum and West Burdwan on Monday, while Purulia and Bankura are under an orange alert for thunderstorms and lightning.
The Met Department noted that the monsoon trough has entered West Bengal through Rajasthan, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand before extending eastwards towards Tripura. A low-pressure area over Uttar Pradesh and adjoining regions, along with a cyclonic circulation extending up to 5.8 kilometres above sea level, is also influencing the weather pattern.
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A trough extending from Gujarat to northern Bangladesh has also passed over the low-pressure area, increasing the possibility of thunderstorms across parts of the state. Rain is expected to continue in almost all districts of south Bengal until Wednesday, with separate heavy rainfall warnings in place for East Midnapore, West Midnapore, Jhargram, Purulia and Bankura.
Kolkata is not expected to receive heavy rain for now, although scattered thunderstorms could continue until Wednesday. The city may also experience light to moderate rainfall accompanied by gusty winds reaching 30 to 40 kilometres per hour. Kolkata recorded a minimum temperature of 28.7 degrees Celsius on Monday, which was 2.4 degrees above normal, while Sunday's maximum temperature stood at 32.4 degrees Celsius.
In north Bengal, heavy rain is expected to continue in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar until Tuesday, while Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar are likely to receive continued rainfall. Rain may increase in Malda on Wednesday, with scattered showers expected elsewhere. The weather system could become more active over north Bengal during the weekend, with another heavy rain warning issued for Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar from Friday to Sunday.
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