The possibility of light rain on the last two days of Puja is not ruled out, a Met official said on Monday.
The Met office had on Friday issued the Puja forecast, predicting bright and sunny weather from Sashthi to Ashtami (October to 20 to 22).
There was a minor possibility of light showers on Navami and Dashami (October 23 and 24), according to the forecast. An update was expected on Monday.
“A cyclonic circulation is likely to take shape over the Bay of Bengal around October 23. It might cause some rain in Calcutta. However, rain, if any, will be light,” G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Calcutta, said on Monday.
The clear blue autumn sky was missing on Monday. Neither was the sky uniformly sunny. It was cloudy for a brief while in the afternoon.
Das attributed it to a Western Disturbance over Uttarakhand. A Western Disturbance is a Mediterranean storm that reaches northwestern India via Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan. It then keeps moving east through the upper reaches of the country, usually passing over Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.
“The system is not likely to remain active after October 18 (Wednesday),” Das said.
The weather is tipped to be clear and sunny from October 19. Even after the Bay system takes shape, the sky is likely to be cloudy and sunny in turns, said Met officials.
“Conditions are becoming favourable for the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from north Bengal and northeast India during next 48 hours,” said the daily weather report from the Met office in Alipore.
The monsoon retreated from Calcutta on October 13 (Friday). It stuck to the usual timeline, which is between October 10 and 12.