Everything changed very quickly. Even at 12:30 pm on Thursday, the sky was clear and the sun was harsh. But then the situation changed very rapidly. The sky over South Bengal, including Kolkata, was covered with thick black clouds. Lightning began in many places. Then came torrential rain. The severe cyclone 'Mantha' that formed in the Bay of Bengal is currently positioned as a low-pressure system over Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. However, much of the vast amount of water vapour that the cyclone had drawn while moving towards the Andhra coast still remains in the air over Bengal, Odisha and several other states.
This presence of water vapour is set to bring rain to Bengal on Friday as well. The weather department has issued a forecast of a very high possibility of light to moderate rain in all 15 districts of South Bengal, including Kolkata. A red alert has been issued for severe rainfall (20 centimetres) in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar in North Bengal today.
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For the past few days, the maximum relative humidity has been hovering around an average of over 95 per cent. In fact, on one day during this period, the relative humidity even reached 100 per cent. This means that at any given temperature, the city's air now contains 95 per cent of the water vapour it can hold. In such conditions, there is no respite from sweating profusely. The situation in South Bengal, including Kolkata, is exactly like this now. When October is almost over (tomorrow is the first day of November), even if there is no feeling of winter, dry air should cause tightness in the hands and feet. But far from it! In South Bengal, even during the Bengali month of Kartik, there is a similar discomfort feeling of Bhadra. Meteorologists say that as long as the water vapour remaining as remnants of cyclone 'Mantha' does not dissipate, this humid heat situation will persist.
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On Thursday afternoon, rain fell not only in Kolkata but simultaneously in Bankura, Purulia, Birbhum, North and South 24 Parganas and Nadia. There was intermittent rain in Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Cooch Behar as well on this day. The Alipore Weather Office has said that on Friday, the intensity of rain in North Bengal will increase considerably. Very heavy rain, up to 200 millimetres of rainfall, is expected in Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Alipurduar, Cooch Behar and Jalpaiguri in North Bengal today. Heavy rain, leading to 70 to 110 millimetres of rainfall, is forecast for Malda and North Dinajpur.
