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West Bengal Braces for BoB's First Monsoon Low-Pressure; To Witness Heavy Rains Until Friday

Wednesday, August 5: As heavy showers continue to lash the western coast of India, monsoon has started to intensify in the eastern side of the country as well. This very intensification is set to bring heavy rains over West Bengal for the next 2-3 days.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), monsoon is currently in its active to vigorous phase over eastern parts of India, covering Odisha and West Bengal.

Further, a well-marked low-pressure area lies over northwest Bay of Bengal, off the north Odisha-West Bengal coasts, along with an associated cyclonic circulation.

In view of the predictions, the IMD has placed a yellow watch over Gangetic West Bengal on Wednesday, and over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal (SHWB) on Wednesday and Thursday.

On Wednesday, the regional met department in Kolkata has forecast heavy rain up to 7- 11 cm at one or two places over Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar Alipurduar, Kalimpong, Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan, and West Midnapore districts of West Bengal. Moreover, moderate thunderstorms with lightning are also expected at one or two places over SHWB.

Furthermore, all 15 districts of south Bengal have been placed under an orange alert, which urges residents to “be prepared” for the rough weather conditions. In addition, a few districts, viz. West Midnapore, Purulia, Jhargram, Bankura, and West Burdwan, will remain under the alert on Thursday as well.

As for North Bengal, six districts have been placed under a yellow watch (“be updated”) due to the likelihood of heavy rain and moderate thunderstorms.

On Thursday, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, and Coochbehar will all continue to receive heavy rain, and will therefore remain under the yellow watch.

As for Kolkata, the state capital, The Weather Channel’s 10-day forecast predicts 80% chances of rainfall over the city from Thursday to Saturday.

Overall, since the beginning of the monsoon period, West Bengal has witnessed a normal amount of precipitation. Between June 1 and August 4, West Bengal recorded 820.2 mm rains, while the district of Kolkata registered 771.8 mm—both ‘normal’ amounts compared to their respective long-term average figures for this 2-month period.

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