The capital city of Kolkata is heading for heavy monsoon showers today. Intense rain and thundershowers are likely in the evening and night. City and suburbs may get deluged in some parts as the monsoon depression nears the commercial and financial hub of West Bengal. Monsoon bursts may be accompanied by strong gale-force winds and lightning storms.
A deep depression in the Bay of Bengal is centred around 21°N and 91°E, nearly 400km southeast of Kolkata. The depression will cross the Bangladesh coast in the late evening and travel across Gangetic West Bengal over the next 24 hours. The system will track west-northwest, keeping the capital city on its right but in close proximity. The entire stretch of Gangetic West Bengal will experience inclement weather conditions, the southern half being harsher than the northern one. Digha, Diamond Harbour, Contai, Haldia, Nandigram, South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur run the risk of extremely heavy rainfall. Kolkata, Howrah, Alipur, Hooghly, North 24 Parganas and Paschim Medinipur will receive heavy downpours in some parts, more so in the late evening and night hours.
The capital city, Kolkata has been a rain deficit this monsoon season. It has recorded 331.2mm of rainfall against the normal of 670.3mm, a huge shortfall of 51%. The city airport observatory Dum Dum recorded 60mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8.30 a.m today. The city will receive heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours, becoming moderate in the subsequent 24 hours. Thereafter, mostly light rainfall is expected in the following 4-5 days. Caution needs to be exercised for localized waterlogging and lightning storms for the next 48 hours.