The monsoon will reach south Bengal within 48 hours but it may not bring heavy rain immediately, the Alipore Met office said on Wednesday.
Light to moderate rain can be expected after the arrival of the monsoon winds in south Bengal. On the days it will not rain, the heat and the humidity will be like what they have been for most of June, the Met office said.
“Given the movement of the monsoon winds, it is likely that they will advance into south Bengal in the next 48 hours,” said G.K. Das, director of India Meteorological Department, Calcutta.
“The monsoon will not be in its active phase, so there is unlikely to be any heavy rain. Light to moderate rain is expected in this phase of the monsoon in south Bengal.”
He said the monsoon winds would not enter all south Bengal districts in a single day. It will take a few days for the rains to cover the entire south Bengal.
Kolkatans have been waiting for the monsoon to arrive for long with the hope that the rain will provide some relief from the searing heat.
The normal date for the arrival of the monsoon in Kolkata is June 11, said Das. “Do not expect the heat and humidity to come down with the arrival of the monsoon. There will be days when there will be no rain. On those days, the temperature and the humidity level will remain high.”
Climatologically, June is not the prime month for monsoon rains. “The bulk of the season’s rainfall happens in July and August,” said Das.
The maximum temperature recorded in Kolkata on Wednesday was 32.7 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal. The minimum temperature was 23.9, three degrees below normal.
Das said the Bay of Bengal branch of the monsoon first advances into northeast India and then north Bengal. The monsoon winds advance into south Bengal later.
North Bengal is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rain in the next few days.
The Met office has issued rain alerts for Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar districts. The water level may rise in the Teesta, Jaldhaka, Sankosh and Torsa rivers and there could be landslides in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.