After hottest day, June gets its wettest 24 hours in a decade

KOLKATA: Night-long downpour lashed the city on Monday, taking the rain count higher in the wettest June day in a decade. Resurgent monsoon currents and a cyclonic circulation over northwest Bay of Bengal triggered 162.6mm rain between 8.30am on Monday and 8.30am on Tuesday – the highest the city has received since at least 2006. The Met office has predicted moderate showers in south Bengal with a possibility of heavy rainfall in some parts on Wednesday.



After day-long rainfall on Monday, Kolkata was battered by heavy showers through the night. While it ceased on Tuesday morning, several areas in south Kolkata remained waterlogged. The northern part of the city, though, received scanty rain. Dum Dum received just 3mm rain in 24 hours.

“The circulation over Bay of Bengal has moved towards south Bangladesh and it has been contributing to the rain. As the monsoon currents have now covered the entire state, they will get more active. While moderate rain will continue, there could be heavy showers in some parts of south Bengal. Kolkata should receive light to moderate rain on Wednesday,” said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director GK Das.

A slowdown in monsoon activity, however, could be in the offing. As the monsoon currents enter Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh, showers could turn infrequent in south Bengal. “From Thursday, north Bengal could receive very heavy showers while rain will be less intense in the south. This is due to the more active monsoon currents in the neighbouring states. Once monsoon settles down there, the trough will turn active in south Bengal yet again,” explained Das.

Kolkata had received 154.9mm rain on June 18, 2011— the second wettest June day in the last decade. “The conditions have been conducive for heavy rain early in the season this time. But monsoon currents had come to a halt for 10 days after hitting Bengal. Kolkata also recorded the hottest day of the year in June. Things have been topsy-turvy this time,” said a weather scientist.

It was the slow cloud movement and concentration of clouds in South 24 Parganas and Midnapore that resulted in a downpour in Kolkata on Monday. Such intense spells are common in monsoon, but rare in June. “In 2007, too, we had intense rain on June 13 but the volume of rain was less than on Tuesday,” said Das.