The remnants of Cyclone Montha brought back overcast skies and persistent showers to the city on Wednesday as the storm continued to weaken while moving inland.

Parts of the coastal districts, including East Midnapore and South 24-Parganas, received heavy rain. The storm, which made landfall on the Andhra Pradesh coast on Tuesday evening, had weakened into a depression by Wednesday evening as it tracked northwards towards Chhattisgarh.

According to the Met office, the moisture-laden system will keep Bengal under a wet spell until Saturday. In south Bengal, heavy rain is likely in Birbhum, Murshidabad and West Burdwan districts over the next 48 hours. North Bengal, meanwhile, is bracing for a stronger onslaught — with heavy to very heavy rainfall (7-20cm) expected in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Cooch Behar and Alipurduar on Friday.

At Alipore, the Met office recorded around 8mm of rain between Tuesday night and Wednesday night. Calcutta’s skies are likely to clear gradually, with conditions expected to improve from Sunday, the forecast said.

Cyclone Montha made landfall between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, to the south of Kakinada, affecting the Andhra Pradesh and Yanam coasts — the latter being part of Puducherry. The storm was classified as a severe cyclonic storm at the time of landfall, packing winds of 90-100kmph, gusting up to 110kmph, the Met department said.

After landfall, Montha moved north-northwest, crossing Odisha and heading towards Chhattisgarh. By early Wednesday, it had weakened into a deep depression.

“Cyclonic Storm Montha, which was over coastal Andhra Pradesh, moved north-northwestwards at a speed of around 15kmph during the past six hours, weakened into a deep depression, and lay centred at 8.30am on Wednesday over coastal Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Telangana — about 50km south-southeast of Bhadrachalam (Andhra Pradesh), 110km east of Khammam (Telangana), 130km south-southwest of Malkangiri (Odisha) and 220km south-southwest of Jagdalpur (Chhattisgarh),” stated an afternoon bulletin by the Met office.

“It is likely to move north-northwestwards across Andhra Pradesh and adjoining Telangana and south Chhattisgarh, and weaken into a depression,” it added.

The system is expected to continue weakening — from a depression into a low-pressure area, and finally into a cyclonic circulation. However, as it moves north, Jharkhand, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh may come under its direct influence. “If that happens, there will be significant moisture incursion into Bengal, especially in north Bengal, which borders Bihar,” said a Met official in Calcutta.

Districts including South and North 24-Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia and East and West Burdwan were drenched on Tuesday and Wednesday. At Digha, the sea turned rough on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, prompting authorities to warn tourists against venturing into the water.

In several districts, the showers have damaged crops.