Office and school-going commuters in South Bengal faced heavy to moderate rain in the early morning of Friday in Kolkata and adjacent districts.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for multiple districts across South Bengal and some parts of Kolkata, forecasting light to moderate thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, intense rain, and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph in the next few hours from 12:30 pm on Friday until Saturday. These districts include Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum and Bankura.
Until Monday, Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas, Purba and Paschim Medinipur, Purulia, Jhargram, Bankura, Birbhum, Burdwan, Murshidabad, and Nadia will experience light to moderate rain, and thunderstorms are very likely to occur in most of these districts. Thunderstorms with gusty winds (30-40 kmph) and lightning are forecasted for July 18 to July 21.
Meanwhile, an orange alert has been issued for heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20 cm) likely in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Cooch Behar from July 19 to 20.
The South Bengal districts under orange alert starting Friday are Kolkata, South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas, Purba Medinipur, Paschim Bardhaman, Birbhum and Bankura. People in these regions have been advised to stay indoors, and avoid waterlogged and low-lying areas.
A yellow alert for Friday has been issued for the South Bengal districts of Hooghly, Jhargram, Nadia and Purba Bardhaman districts, which will experience light to moderate thunderstorms and lightning, accompanied by moderate rain with wind speed reaching up to 30-40 kmph in the evening.
On the same day, light to moderate rain and thunderstorms are very likely to occur at many places over the districts of North Bengal with wind gust speed between 30 to 40 kmph and lightning at Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Malda, Uttar and Dakshin Dinajpur, with heavy rainfall (7-11 cm) likely to occur at one or two places over Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts.