A fresh system brewing on the Bay of Bengal is set to bring another rainy spell to Bengal at a time when monsoon has started retreating from the northwestern parts of the country.
Monsoon started withdrawing from parts of Rajasthan on September 25, eight days behind the normal date, the India Meteorological department (IMD) said.
Met officials in Calcutta were non-committal on whether the system would lead to a delayed withdrawal of monsoon from south Bengal.
“A cyclonic circulation lies over Myanmar and adjoining east-central Bay of Bengal… Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over east central and adjoining northeast Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to become a well-marked low-pressure area and move northwestwards towards north Odisha and adjoining West Bengal coasts during the subsequent 48 hours,” said a Met bulletin on Thursday.
A Met official said under that the influence of the system, Calcutta and the rest of south Bengal and Odisha are likely to get widespread rain between Friday and Sunday.
“Some of the coastal areas might end up getting heavy rain,” he said.
The system is also expected to enter land and trigger rain in north Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand.
“The rainfall in south Bengal will start dipping from October 2. Between October 3 and 6, north Bengal is likely to get widespread rain,” said the Met official.
The usual date for the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from south Bengal is October 12. If the monsoon stays much longer, it will cast a cloud on the Durga Puja celebrations. This year, Shashthi is on October 20.
“It is not clear when the monsoon will retreat this year. As of now, there is no sign of another system on the Bay. We will have to see if there is a dry spell after October 6...,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological department, Calcutta.
The monsoon has had a delayed withdrawal from Calcutta for at least the past three years.
Last year, it left on October 20. In 2021 the monsoon left the city on October 23. In 2020, the withdrawal was completed on October 28.