Monsoon set foot in Calcutta on Tuesday, a week behind schedule and was accompanied by uniform rainfall and consistent overcast conditions.
“The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of north Bengal, and it has advanced over the entire south Bengal today,” said a Met bulletin issued on Tuesday morning.
This year, the monsoon made a premature entry in north Bengal on May 29. The usual date for monsoon’s arrival in north Bengal is around June 5. For south Bengal, the usual date is June 10.
This is among the rainiest arrivals of the southwest monsoon in Calcutta in the past few years. The city received around 23mm of rain between 8.30pm on Monday and 8.30pm on Tuesday.
The clouds and showers dragged the day’s temperature down significantly. The maximum temperature in Alipore on Tuesday was 28.4 degrees, more than five notches below normal. It was the lowest in almost three months. On March 22, the maximum temperature was 25.5 degrees.
The city woke up to a gloomy sky and rain. It affected attendance in schools, many of which reopened after summer vacation on Tuesday.
At BD Memorial International School, only 57 per cent of students were present in the morning shift, which starts at 7am.
“A significant section of students were absent on Tuesday because of the rain. The rain occurred in the morning at a time when children come to school,” said principal Madhumita Sengupta. She said that the school considered students who arrived late and did not penalise them.
At Sri Sri Academy, too, there was no punishment for latecomers, a school official said.
“The gate was kept open beyond the scheduled time,” said a school official.
The Met bulletin warned of heavy rain in south Bengal.
“Under the influence of yesterday’s upper air cyclonic circulation over northwest Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood, a low-pressure area has formed over southwest Bangladesh and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal.... It is likely to move slowly west-northwestwards and become more marked over Gangetic West Bengal and the neighbourhood during the next 24 hours,” the bulletin said.
“On Wednesday, heavy to very-heavy rainfall (7-20cm) with extremely-heavy rainfall is likely in Purulia, Bankura, West Burdwan and West Midnapore; heavy to very heavy is likely in Jhargram, South 24-Parganas, East Midnapore, Hooghly, Howrah, Birbhum, and East Burdwan and heavy rainfall (7-11cm) is likely in the remaining districts of south Bengal,” the forecast said.
On Thursday, heavy rainfall is expected in Jhargram, Purulia, West Midnapore, East Burdwan, West Burdwan, Bankura, Birbhum and Murshidabad.
In north Bengal, heavy rain is likely in Jalpaiguri and North Dinajpur districts on Wednesday. On Thursday, heavy rain is likely in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur districts.