Cyclone Montha to bring heavy rain in Bengal, says MeT office

Kolkata, Oct 26 (IANS) The Meteorological (MeT) office on Sunday said that Cyclone Montha will not have a direct impact on West Bengal but is likely to bring heavy rain from Monday onwards.

Districts of South Bengal, including Kolkata, will receive rain due to the influence of the system.

According to the special bulletin of the MeT office, the cyclone is then likely to make landfall between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatam on the Andhra Pradesh coast near Kakinada region on Tuesday evening or night as a severe cyclonic storm.

The maximum wind speed at the time of landfall may be 90-100 kilometres per hour. The wind speed may reach 110 kilometres per hour, said the MeT Department.

The MeT Department official, Sourish Banerjee, said that although there will be no direct impact of the cyclone on the state, the sea will remain rough in the Bengal coast from October 28 to 30. There is a possibility of gusty winds of 35-45 kilometres per hour. The speed of gusty winds can reach 55 kilometres per hour.

Due to rough seas, fishermen in Bengal have been advised not to venture into the sea from October 28 to 30. Those who are in the deep sea have been asked to return by Monday (October 27), said the official.

"On Monday, light thundershowers are likely at one or two places in South 24 Parganas, Jhargram, East Midnapore and West Midnapore districts. On Tuesday, heavy rain is likely at a few places in the South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore districts. Light to moderate rain with thundershowers are likely at a few places in the remaining south Bengal districts," said the official.

In addition, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly, Jhargram, East Midnapore, West Midnapore and Kolkata are likely to experience light to moderate rain with thundershowers at most places on Wednesday. Light to moderate rain with thundershowers is likely in all districts of south Bengal on Thursday. There is a possibility of light to moderate rain with thunderstorms in most areas of all districts on Friday.

Meanwhile, the possibility of thunderstorms in north Bengal is low. However, the amount of rain will gradually increase in the next seven days.

The maximum temperature in Kolkata on Saturday was 32.9 degrees Celsius, which is 1.2 degrees above normal. The minimum temperature on Sunday was 25.5 degrees Celsius, which is 2.5 degrees Celsius above normal.

--IANS

sch/dpb