The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday said a fresh low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal could trigger heavy rainfall across Odisha till August 17, Monday. Squally weather with wind speeds reaching 40–50 kmph and occasionally gusting to 60 kmph is very likely to prevail along and off the Odisha coast till August 15, Saturday, it added.
As per the IMD, the weather system is likely to move further northwestwards during the next 48 hours, and its effects are likely to be experienced in West Bengal as well.
"Under the influence of yesterday's upper-air cyclonic circulation over the northwest Bay of Bengal and neighbourhood, a low-pressure area has formed over the North Bay of Bengal off the West Bengal-Bangladesh coasts at 5:30 am," it said.
"It is likely to become a well-marked low-pressure area over the same region during the next 12 hours. Thereafter, it is likely to concentrate into a depression and move northwestwards across West Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh coasts during the subsequent 24 hours," the IMD said in another bulletin.
"We have issued an 'orange alert' (be prepared to take action) for heavy to very heavy rainfall at one or two places in Angul and Keonjhar districts, and a 'yellow alert' (be aware) for heavy rainfall in the remaining districts of Odisha," PTI quoted Manorama Mohanty, the director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar.
Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea till August 15, the bulletin stated. The possibility of heavy rainfall till August 17 could also lead to riverine flooding in some catchments, the IMD warned.
As per the IMD, West Bengal should brace for showers until August 15 due to the low pressure. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely in Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, adjacent areas, and western districts in the coming days, it said.
Lightning strikes were witnessed during thunderstorms in West Bengal in recent days. Meteorologists are advising people to stay inside concrete structures during thunderstorms, local media reports said.
