Cyclone Asani fizzles out but Kolkata to get more rain

KOLKATA: The city received intermittent spells of rain on Wednesday under the impact of clouds that broke away from cyclone Asani. The showers could continue on Thursday as more clouds from the system, which disintegrated into a depression off the coast of Visakhapatnam on Wednesday night, float into south Bengal. But the rain could lessen from Friday as the system is likely to die out before it hits land. Kolkata received 9.2mm rain on Wednesday.

“Asani has started weakening even as it moves towards the Visakhapatnam coast. By Thursday morning, it will be reduced to a depression. While rain triggered by clouds from the system will persist till Thursday, we expect thunderstorms in south Bengal,” said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director G K Das.
Intermittent warm spells between light showers could turn conditions ideal for a thunderstorm from Thursday, said weather officials. Adequate moisture is already present in south Bengal to aid thunderstorms and more will be flowing in with the southeasterly wind on Thursday. “Along with sporadic showers, thunderstorms could return to south Bengal,” said Das.
On Wednesday, Kolkata recorded a maximum temperature of 31.2°C, which was four notches below normal. With more rain predicted, the mercury will remain lower than the normal level, said weathermen.
Meanwhile, cyclone Asani moved north-northwestward over westcentral Bay of Bengal on Wednesday. It lay around 120km southwest of Kakinada, 270km from Visakhapatnam and 620km from Puri. “The system will not have any further impact on Bengal directly. But clouds and moisture from the system have already had an impact on the weather in south Bengal and Kolkata. The impact will persist till moisture flows in,” added Das.