West Bengal [India]: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall in parts of West Bengal till October 31 due to the impact of cyclone ‘Arnab’. The cyclone made landfall on the coast of Andhra Pradesh in the early hours of Wednesday.
Moderate to heavy rainfall occurred in some parts of coastal and southern districts of West Bengal on Tuesday, the IMD said.
According to the IMD bulletin, heavy rains are likely in the coastal and western districts of the state till Friday morning and in the sub-Himalayan region till Saturday. The cyclone made landfall between Bapatla and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh at around 1.20 am on Wednesday, the IMD said. At that time it was an ‘extremely severe’ cyclonic storm with maximum sustained wind speed of 125 to 135 kmph, while gusts were reaching 150 kmph.
Coastal areas of South 24 Parganas and Purba Medinipur districts of West Bengal received heavy rains along with strong winds since Tuesday evening. According to the bulletin, Kolkata recorded 19.1 mm rainfall from 5.30 pm on Tuesday to 8.30 am on Wednesday. The city is likely to remain cloudy and light to moderate rain on Wednesday.
The IMD said that heavy rains may occur in East Medinipur, South 24 Parganas, Jhargram, Paschim Medinipur, Bankura and Purulia till Friday morning. At the same time, sub-Himalayan districts like Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar are expected to receive heavy rains till Saturday morning.
Several flights to and from Kolkata’s Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport were cancelled or affected due to inclement weather. Officials gave this information on Wednesday. As a precautionary measure, fishermen have been warned not to venture into the sea along and off the West Bengal coast till Thursday.
[DD News]