Written by Jigisha Seal
South Bengal witnessed very light to moderate rain with gusty winds in Purulia district early Tuesday, while north Bengal also experienced similar conditions in isolated areas. The rest of the state remained dry. However the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert of possible thunderstorms with lightning which is likely to occur in a few districts across north and south regions of the state.
“An upper air cyclonic circulation lies over south Jharkhand and adjoining north Chhattisgarh at 1.5 km above mean sea level. The trough from above cyclonic circulation over south Jharkhand and adjoining north Chhattisgarh to Marathwada across interior Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Vidarbha at 0.9 km above mean sea level persists. An upper air cyclonic circulation lies over southwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining north Sri Lanka between 1.5 & 3.1 km above mean sea level,” said the weather department statement.
According to the IMD, “very light to moderate rain occurred at isolated places in south Bengal, while north Bengal experienced very light to light rain at a few locations”.Shallow fog was observed at one or two places in Darjeeling. The lowest minimum temperature was recorded at 20.0°C in Purulia and 16.0°C in Alipurduar, while Darjeeling recorded 9.5°C.
In south Bengal, light to moderate rain is expected at a few places over Birbhum, east and west Burdwan, Jhargram, east and west Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Hooghly districts, while the remaining districts may receive light rain at isolated places. Thunderstorms with gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph may occur at west Burdwan and Birbhum, while winds of 30-40 kmph along with lightning are likely to occur in east Burdwan, Jhargram, East and west Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Hooghly districts. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning are likely to hit one or two places in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Malda and North Dinajpur districts of north Bengal. The conditions are reported to prevail over the course of next 48 hours. The IMD has warned of possible lightning strikes in open areas across parts of north and south Bengal. The weather activity may also affect potato harvesting in some districts.
(Jigisha Seal is an intern with the Kolkata office of The Indian Express)