The season’s first spell of uniform heavy rain is expected in Kolkata next week. A low-pressure system expected to take shape over the Bay of Bengal on Saturday is tipped to be the catalyst.
The system should take shape over the northwest Bay of Bengal. The area is close to the Odisha coast. But as the system enters the land and moves westwards, it is expected to bring the monsoon trough closer to Kolkata between August 9 and 11, said Met officials.
The trough and the system are expected to lead to the formation of strong rain-bearing clouds that would trigger heavy rain in coastal areas of south Bengal, including Kolkata.
The trough is currently over Bhubaneswar, over 400m south of Kolkata. “The city is likely to get a rainy spell from Tuesday to Thursday. Heavy rain in Kolkata is most likely on Wednesday,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata. Monsoon has so far been lacklustre in Kolkata. July, usually the rainiest month, ended with a rain deficit of around 30 per cent.
Since July, the city has had just a single day of heavy rain, on August 2. But the rain was not uniform.
While Dum Dum and some pockets of central Kolkata got heavy rain, south Kolkata was drier. The rain was caused by local thunderclouds.