A spell of heavy rain, the first this monsoon, is headed Calcutta’s way, the Met office has said.
A well-marked low-pressure area over north Bay of Bengal, on course to intensify into a depression, is likely to bring widespread rain over south Bengal, said a Met official.
“Under its inlfuence, heavy to very heavy rain is expected over the districts of south Bengal from July 31 to August 2,” said a Met bulletin issued on Monday afternoon.
Several parts of Calcutta and its fringes received a spell of sharp rain on Monday evening. In Salt Lake, New Town and northern parts of Calcutta, the intensity of the showers was more than that in southern and central Calcutta.
The Met office had in the middle of last week predicted a rainy weekend. But Saturday and Sunday were dry, with a Met official pointing to a delay in the formation of the system.
“The system had formed as a low-pressure area over west-central Bay four days ago. It lost steam after moving into land in Odisha. But it again moved to the sea and started gaianing strength. Now, it is a well-marked low pressure area over north Bay,” said G.K. Das, director, India Meteorological Department, Calcutta.
A Met report on Monday night said the system was “likely to move northwest wards and concentrate into a depression during next 12 hours”.
“The monsoon trough now passes through Canning (South 24 Parganas) into centre of the well-marked low pressure area over central parts of North Bay of Bengal,” it added.
The system is tipped to move towards Jharkhand in the coming days.
South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Jhargram and Bankura were likely to get “very heavy rain”, according to the Met forecast.
Calcutta, North 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly were among the districts likely to get “heavy rain,” it said.
July, usually the wettest month, eneded with a significant rain deficit this year.
A Met official attributed the deficit to the absence of heavy rain.
The city is yet to get a single day of heavy rain in July.
Between June 27 midnight and June 28 morning, several parts of the city were lashed by more than 60mm of rain which, in 24 hours, qualifies as heavy in Met parlance.
But Alipore, which serves as the official recordkeeper for Calcutta, had received less than 60mm in the same phase.
Monday was exceptionally humid, with a minimum relative humidity of close to 70 per cent. Coupled with the heat, the humidity made the conditions extremely uncomfortable, until the showers brought some respite.
“The next few days are likely to be overcast. The temperature will be under control,” Das said.