Will West Bengal Experience More Rain in the Coming Week?

Kolkata, July 30 (NationPress) The Met Office has issued a forecast on Wednesday indicating that heavy rain is expected over Kolkata and several districts in south Bengal for the next two days, with heavy to very heavy rainfall anticipated in north Bengal districts starting from Friday.

Additionally, scattered showers are set to persist in the south Bengal districts until Sunday.

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore has noted that the current low-pressure system is stretching from the northeast Arabian Sea across Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, and Gangetic West Bengal to south Bangladesh. The monsoon axis currently extends over the northeast Bay of Bengal through Sriganganagar, Churu, Gwalior, Khajuraho, Daltonganj, Purulia, and Canning.

A cyclonic circulation is also present over Gangetic West Bengal, leading to moisture influx from the Bay of Bengal, as a result of these three weather systems. A Met Department official stated, "This has created favorable conditions for rain in South Bengal over the next two days, while North Bengal districts can expect heavy to very heavy rains for seven days starting from Friday."

On Wednesday, significant rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms, is anticipated in Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad, and Nadia districts. Light to moderate rainfall with thundershowers is expected across all south Bengal districts. A similar prediction has been made for Thursday, although rainfall amounts in south Bengal are projected to decrease significantly from Friday.

Conversely, conditions are expected to worsen in North Bengal, which is already dealing with high water levels from the Teesta River, causing flooding in large areas of the Darjeeling district due to continuous rain over the past few days.

Heavy to very heavy rain is forecast for the next seven days in North Bengal districts including Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, and Alipurduar. Light to moderate rain is expected in Cooch Behar, Alipurduar, and Malda districts on Thursday.

The Met Department has warned that the water levels in North Bengal rivers like Teesta, Torsa, and Jaldhaka will rise due to the anticipated heavy rainfall, increasing the risk of landslides in the hilly regions of Darjeeling and Kalimpong.

Meanwhile, ongoing rainfall in Sikkim and various parts of the Darjeeling hills has caused the water level in the Teesta River to rise, triggering landslides at multiple locations on Tuesday. The swollen Teesta disrupted traffic on NH10, the main highway linking Sikkim and Kalimpong with Siliguri in north Bengal.

The river inundated sections of NH10 at Rabijhora, a junction near Teesta Bazar, which connects to Darjeeling and 29th Mile. Traffic was also halted on the Peshok Road linking Darjeeling with Kalimpong. Additionally, the Teesta flooded some unprotected areas in the Kranti and Malbazar blocks of Jalpaiguri district.

In a related note, Kolkata has recorded its highest rainfall for July this year in the past five years, with an average of 593.6 mm recorded until July 29. For comparison, last year saw 398.4 mm of rainfall in July. The minimum temperature in Kolkata on Wednesday was 25.7 degrees Celsius, which is 1.1 degrees below the normal range. The maximum temperature recorded in the city on Tuesday was 30.0 degrees Celsius, 2.6 degrees below normal.