The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that the southwest monsoon finally arrived in southern West Bengal on Monday, July 19th, bringing a spell of rain to the region, which has been experiencing heat wave-like conditions for more than a month.
Conditions have improved for the system to progress through southern regions of the state in the ensuing two to three days and bring with it moderate to heavy rainfall in various locations, the Press Trust of India (PTI) reported quoting a spokesperson of the IMD.
Residents of West Bengal’s capital Kolkata and its suburbs, who had been suffering from the heatwave for over a month, were met with an overcast sky and gentle drizzle, much to their delight.
“Today the southwest monsoon advanced into some parts of North and South 24 Parganas, Kolkata, Nadia, Hooghly, Murshidabad, Birbhum and Purba Bardhaman districts. Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon in more parts of south Bengal during the next two-three days”, the IMD’s spokesperson said.
Even if the city, its neighbourhood, and other parts of south Bengal saw some shade from the sun, thanks to the cloud cover, there was still no way to escape the discomfort brought on by the high humidity, which ranged from 69% at the lowest to 91% at the highest.
The mercury level, however, dipped a little. The maximum temperature was recorded at 32.9 degrees Celsius, one degree less than the average maximum temperature and the minimum of 29.9 degrees, the weatherman said.
In the upcoming 24 hours, the IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in a few locations across Coochbehar, Jalpaiguri, and Alipurduar districts in north Bengal as well as one or two locations receiving heavy rainfall over Kalimpong and Darjeeling districts in the hills. Starting on June 23rd, there will be a decrease in the amount of rain in the area.
Kolkata and other parts of south Bengal reeled under heat wave conditions for over a month as the mercury hovered between 37 and 43 degrees Celsius. The people faced a trying time due to the high humidity level between 80% to 90%.
