Kolkata: The Met department has predicted sporadic and localised rain between Oct 15 and Oct 17 during Durga puja due to the influence of easterly winds.An upper air cyclonic circulation that lies over the Gulf of Thailand and its neighbourhood at present.This weather system is likely to prevail over the Andaman Sea from Oct 11. Later, this may develop into a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal around Oct 13, according to the IMD bulletin.RMC Kolkata officials said this system is likely to move towards North Tamil Nadu and Andhra coast and emerge into a low pressure area. “While this system is unlikely to impact us directly, the easterly winds injecting moisture into the coastal belt is the reason behind the scattered rain prediction in parts of Bengal,” said HR Biswas, the head at Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) Kolkata.The Met office, however, said the amount of rain received and its intensity would not be enough to dampen the festive spirit.In fact, the sky would remain partly cloudy on some days during the puja. Last year, a low pressure area that eventually intensified into a depression had caused 251 mm of rain within 24 hours during Durga puja, leading to massive waterlogging across the city. The Met office has allayed the fear of such waterlogging. “We do not expect any heavy downpour to wash away the festive mirth. But we can expect scattered or sporadic rain in the city between Oct 15 and Oct 17,” said HR Biswas, the head at Regional Meteorological Centre Kolkata. He also added that the rain wouldn’t play the spoilsport as the shower spells were likely to be short. However, intense rainfall could be experienced in some pockets.The Met officials said the rain pattern would likely to be somewhat similar to the kind the city had been experiencing over the past couple of days. The possibility of rain will eventually decrease after Oct 17 (Saptami). However, the Met has predicted around 20% to 30% light rain between Oct 18 and Oct 19 (Saptami and Ashtami), which again is likely to be scattered in pattern.“We can expect dry days from Oct 20 (Nabami),” added Biswas. The Met officials, however, said they were keeping a close tab on this system. The Met office will be issuing another special bulletin on Oct 14. The monsoon is also likely to withdraw from Bengal within the next three days.
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