Wednesday, March 13,Upcoming Rainfall Offers Relief from Heatwave in Odisha, Jharkhand, and West Bengal
Upcoming Rainfall Kolkata has been going through a weird weather patch. After a six-point temperature drop helped the city revisit winter-like conditions last Thursday, the mercury once again climbed back up to a sultry 34-35°C this week, giving residents a seasonal whiplash back to reality. Many other East Indian districts are also facing similar summer wrath currently, including 40°C highs in some parts of Odisha. Fortunately, an incoming rainy patch could help provide some respite from these toasty conditions.
As per a Telegraph India report, G. K. Das, Director of Kolkata’s India Meteorological Department (IMD), explained that a rain-bearing high-pressure zone will soon take shape over the Bay of Bengal. The impact of this system, along with a trough near Chhattisgarh, will help dump moisture over some East Indian states this week.
Accordingly, some parts of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim could see light rainfall on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday (March 13, 14 and 16). Similar weather is likely to prevail over Gangetic West Bengal from Wednesday to Sunday (March 13-17), over Odisha from Thursday to Monday (March 14-18) and Jharkhand from Saturday to Monday (March 16-18).
Looking closer, many parts of Kolkata, including Alipur, Dum Dum, Howrah and Salt Lake, could witness moderate thundershowers on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday (March 14, 16 and 17), helping restrict daytime temperatures to 33-34°C. Despite rainfall forecasts over northern districts of West Bengal, Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri will see mainly clear skies this week.
However, perhaps the true impact of the rainfall will be felt in Odisha and Jharkhand this week, with a massive temperature drop forecast in many parts. Bhubaneshwar could see its mercury drop from a sizzling 39°C to 35°C, thanks to light rains forecast over the Odisha capital city this weekend. Similarly, Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi could witness rain or thundershowers on Saturday and Sunday, helping dip the ongoing 33-34°C highs to 29-30°C.
(TWC Met Team)
Due to these forecasts, the IMD has placed Gangetic West Bengal on a yellow watch (meaning ‘be updated’) on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The same alert will also reign over Jharkhand and Odisha on Sunday.
Save Jharkhand with 10.2 mm of precipitation (48% higher than its normal), all East Indian states continue to endure rainfall scarcities this month. Between March 1 and 12, West Bengal accumulated only 4.8 mm of rainfall (56% below its 10.8 mm normal), while Odisha gathered 3.9 mm (57% below its 9.1 mm normal).
