Thunderstorms of Wednesday Inaugurated Before-Time Monsoon in State

Kolkata:  The early morning of Wednesday in Kolkata saw a Nor’wester clad with heavy rains, storm, uprooted trees and waterlogged streets. Though the calendar show it’s not yet the time to declare monsoon in Bengal, but the typical lashes of rain on Wednesday morning across the city seemed to be like one.

The strong storm and heavy rains started between 6.30 am and 9 am while the city recorded maximum rains around 7am. The highest wind speed was recorded between 7.10 am and 7.11 am. The Met Department said that the city and neighboring districts will observe more such thundershowers in the next 48-hours: “With the weather systems causing moisture incursion are active for now, more such thundershowers are likely over the next two to three days,”  

The thunderstorms led to some damage too. Reports are that a tree fell near the Police Training School at AJC Bose Road at around 9am and blocked the traffic over Vidyasagar Setu. Another tree was uprooted on B.K. Paul Avenue in the morning. Wednesday’s rain also left Central Avenue waterlogged. Areas like Thanthania saw the same. Few more areas in the northern fringe of the city, especially Dumdum have also seen submerged streets at the rushing hours of Wednesday.

With such forecast over rain, the Indian Meteorological Department has not declared the onset of monsoon in the country. After the heavy spells on Wednesday, Skymet has ‘indicated its arrival.’ Skymet asserted on its website that, “It looks like the monsoon is here and has entered the Kerala coast.”