The city is expected to get a clear sky on Sunday, but the upper regions of north Bengal, like Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Jalpaiguri, are likely to receive rain for the next few days, the Met office has predicted.
In Calcutta, the rainy spell continued on Saturday, and it remained cloudy for most parts.
Between 5.30pm on Friday and 5.30pm on Saturday, the city received 19.8mm of rain. The rain and cloud cover dragged down the day temperatures. Homes that had their ACs whirring earlier in the week were suddenly comfortable with fans at half pelt.
The maximum temperature on Saturday was 23.2 degrees Celsius, 11 notches below normal. The minimum temperature at 19.2 degrees Celsius was 4.4 notches below normal.
Many families from the city visit Darjeeling and Kalimpong in March, after the school examinations end and before the start of the new
academic session.
“In Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar, rain will continue on Sunday, but it will be less intense compared to what these places experienced on Saturday,” said H.R. Biswas, head of the weather section at the Regional Meteorological Centre in Alipore.
It remained cloudy throughout the day in these districts with rainfall, but Sunday will start on a sunny note, said Biswas.
“The rain will continue for the next four or five days in north Bengal but will lose its intensity,” said Biswas.
On Sunday, many locations in the upper regions of north Bengal are likely to experience light to moderate rain, along with thunderstorms, lightning, and wind gusts reaching 50km per hour.
Light to moderate rain was recorded in many districts of south Bengal, with wind clocking up to 60km an hour.
From Friday 8.30am to Saturday 8.30am, Burdwan received 90mm of rain, Uluberia (Howrah) received 30mm, and Sriniketan (Birbhum) received 30mm. In the north, Kalimpong received 90mm, Malda got 70mm, Darjeeling got 40mm, Siliguri got 40mm and Alipurduar got 50mm.
“Calcutta may receive localised rain on Sunday. But the city is expected to receive a spell of rain again towards the latter part of next week,” a Met official said.
Favourable conditions, like the “western disturbance now seen as a trough from north Haryana to north Chhattisgarh across Uttar Pradesh, and east Madhya Pradesh, between 3.1 and 12.6km above mean sea level, and strong moisture incursion from Bay of Bengal” are likely to enhance thunderstorm activity over certain districts of Bengal, the weather office said.
“In Calcutta, the sky will be clearer from Sunday. Chances of rain in the city are less, but the sky would be partially cloudy,” said Biswas.
The day temperatures will start going up from Sunday, Biswas said.
The weather office has predicted light to moderate rain in a few places in North and South 24-Parganas on Sunday.
During the next few days, light rain is likely in West Burdwan, Birbhum, Murshidabad and Bankura.