The rain demon lost track mid-sea, sparing Kolkata a washout on Durga Puja.
A cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal was expected to trigger uniform and widespread rain in Kolkata from Sashthi to Dashami.
In reality, the city only got isolated showers caused by local thunderclouds.
“The cyclonic circulation took shape over west-central Bay of Bengal. The system was expected to form over northeast Bay, closer to the West Bengal coast. Had it formed there, the coastal districts of Bengal would have got much more rain,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Kolkata.
The system intensified into a low-pressure area but was too far from the Bengal coast to have any formidable impact.
On Tuesday afternoon, the system was near the Andhra Pradesh coast, over 500km from Kolkata.
In the city, Sashthi evening saw a sharp spell of rain. For a while, the rain looked ominous and a pointer to the coming days. Saptami and Ashtami, dubbed most likely to get maximum rain, turned out to be relatively dry.
The Met office recorded around 15mm of rain in Alipore on Ashtami and barely 2mm on Saptami. The showers were scattered.
Localised thundershowers are likely in the coming days as well, said Das.
“There is no system to trigger heavy rain. But a lot of moisture-laden winds from the Bay are entering Kolkata. Teaming up with sufficient heating, the winds can lead to the formation of rain-bearing clouds,” he said.
The withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from India has already started. The withdrawal starts from Rajasthan. The usual date of the start of the process is September 17. The standard date for the withdrawal of monsoon from Kolkata is October 10.
“The low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal still persists. The process of monsoon’s withdrawal from Kolkata and south Bengal is unlikely to start immediately,” a Met official said.
