Showers are likely over the next few days in Calcutta, according to the Met forecast.
The rain is unlikely to be heavy, but it will prevent the maximum temperature from shooting up, said a Met official.
“An upper-air cyclonic circulation lies over the west-central Bay of Bengal, off the north Andhra Pradesh coast, at 1.5km above the mean sea level. A trough persists from northwest Uttar Pradesh to north Bangladesh at 0.9km above the mean sea level,” said a Met official.
“The synoptic situation for Friday is that north Bengal and Odisha are getting uniform rain. But over the next four to five days, several parts of south Bengal are also likely to get rain. Calcutta is among them. Between Saturday and Wednesday, at least two spells of rain are expected in Calcutta. The showers are unlikely to be heavy,” said a Met official.
Gusts of wind may precede or accompany the showers, but they are not expected to be fierce, said the Met official.
Howrah, Hooghly, North and South 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, East and West Burdwan, Birbhum, Bankura, Purulia and Jhargram are also likely to get light to moderate rain in the coming days, the Met forecast said.
In north Bengal, some hill districts are likely to get heavy rain.
Parts of Calcutta received a drizzle on Thursday night. The Met office recorded less than 1mm of rain in Alipore.
On Friday, the maximum temperature in Alipore—the official recordkeeper for Calcutta—was 35.9 degrees Celsius, which is around normal for this time of year.
“It will be between 34 and 36 degrees for the next few days,” said the Met official.
The Met Office has said that the southwest monsoon is expected to arrive in Kerala and the Northeast in the third week of May.
As monsoon approaches, localised thunderstorms will give way to uniform rain, minus the strong winds, said Met officials.
“Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon over... south Bay of Bengal, remaining parts of Andaman Islands and Andaman Sea; and some parts of central Bay of Bengal during the next 2-3 days,” said a Met update.