Mocha impact: Met spies thunderstorm in Kolkata today

KOLKATA: As Cyclone Mocha approaches the coasts of southeast Bangladesh and north Myanmar to make a landfall on Sunday, it is leaving behind a trail of cloud formation in the Bay of Bengal that may cause a spell of mild to moderate thunderstorm in Kolkata on Saturday.
Weathermen from the Alipore Met office said that if it didn't rain on Saturday, then the clouds are likely to blow over and delay showers, rather than accumulate.
"As Cyclone Mocha is speeding up and moving in the northeast direction from the Bay of Bengal, it is leaving behind a band of clouds about 500 km away from the Bengal coast. This may cause one mild to moderate thundershower on Saturday. In case the clouds blow over and rainfall is delayed, the skies are still likely to remain partly cloudy till Monday," said Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) director GK Das.
On Friday, the maximum temperature dipped almost three notches to 35.6° Celsius from Thursday's 38.1°. Das said that the maximum temperature may continue to remain in this range for the next two days. As the heat was particularly dry in nature, the RMC had issued a bulletin warning of heatwave-like conditions and uncomfortable weather in several districts of Benga, including Kolkata, till Friday.
For most of last week, several districts crossed 40° Celsius. The presence of the low pressure area in the Bay leading to the formation of the cyclone prevented moisture entering the state from the Bay of Bengal.
Das also said that Sunday's landfall of Mocha will clear up the prevailing weather system in the Bay, making room for inroads of moisture incursions from the coast. While the temperature may start to rise again after the weekend, rising Bay moisture along with favourable conditions for the formation of a trough of low pressure over Jharkhand may cause some precipitation next week - between Tuesday and Friday.