Rain with thunderstorm and lightning warning to Himalayan and Sub -Himalayan area...Storm alert for Saturday... Rain alert if storm sticks to its path

KalimNews and agencies, 01 May 2019, Calcutta: A severe cyclonic storm brewing over the Bay of Bengal is expected to bring to Calcutta very heavy rainfall, accompanied by 100kmph winds, on Saturday if it follows the predicted path.

Met officials said cyclone Fani (pronounced as 'FONI' in Bengali for snake, a name given by Bangladesh) was still far from the city and a change of course could not be ruled out.

Cyclone Fani was hovering over the southwest Bay on Tuesday, around 1,100km from Calcutta.

Met officials said the storm was quite far away from the city and might change its course. But if it follows the predicted path, Calcutta should brace for very heavy rain and strong winds on Saturday.

The Very Severe Cyclonic Storm 'FANI' over Southwest & adjoining westcentral & Southeast Bay of Bengal, moved west-northwestwards with a speed of about 22 kmph in last 06 hours, intensified into an Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm and lay centred at 1730 hrs IST of 30th April, 2019 over Southwest and adjoining west central Southeast Bay of Bengal near Latitude 13.3°N and Longitude 84.7°E, about 730 Km south-southwest of Puri (Odisha) and 510km south-southeast of Vishakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh). It is very likely to move northwestwards till 1st May noon and thereafter recurve north-northeast wards and cross Odisha Coast between Gopalpur and Chandbali, to the south of Puri around 3rd May afternoon with maximum sustained wind of speed 175-185 Kmph gusting to 205 Kmph. 

Main Weather Observations 

♦Rain/Thundershowers observed (from 0830 hours IST to 1730 hours IST of today): at a few places over Jammu &Kashmir, Sub-Himalayan and Assam & Meghalaya and at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh, Sub- Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

 ♦Thunderstorms observed at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya,West Bengal & Sikkim and Jharkhand from 1130hours IST to 1730 hours IST of today.

 ♦Rainfall recorded at 1730 hours IST of today (1 cm or more) are: Tadong- 8; Cherrapunji- 5 each; Pet-Jorhat-2; Pahalgaonand Dibrugarh- 1 each.

♦ Heavy rainfall observed at isolated places over Sub- Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim.

♦Heat wave conditions observed at many places with Severe Heat wave conditions at isolated places over Vidarbha.Heatwave conditions at isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh and East Madhya Pradesh. 

♦ Maximum temperature departures as on 29-04-2019: Maximum temperatures are markedly above normal (5.1°C ormore) at isolated places over Himachal Pradesh and East Uttar Pradesh;appreciably above normal (3.1°C to 5.0°C) at most places over Vidarbha; at many places over West Uttar Pradesh and East Madhya Pradesh; at a few places over Punjab and Haryana , Chandigarh & Delhi and at isolated places over Bihar, Jharkhand, Gangetic West Bengal and Marathawada; above normal (1.6°C to 3.0°C) at most places over East Rajasthan and West Uttar Pradesh; at a few places over Gujarat Region and West Rajasthan and at isolated places over Telangana. They are markedly below normal (5.1°C or more) at many places over Jammu & Kashmir; at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh;l Pradesh and ; below normal(-1.6°Cto -3.0°C) at few places over Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim and near normal over rest of the country. The highest maximum temperature of 47.2°C recorded at Banda (East Uttar Pradesh). 

♦Minimum temperature departures as on 30-04-2019: Minimum temperatures are appreciably above normal (3.1°C to5.0°C) at many places over Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim; at a few places over West Rajasthan and Bihar; at isolated places over Vidarbha and Gangetic West Bengal; above normal (1.6°C to3.0°C) at many places over Saurashtra & Kutch, Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada, Coastal & North Interior Karnataka,Tamilnadu & Puducherry, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram &Tripura and Andaman & Nicobar Islands; at a few places over Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana and isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat region, East Rajasthan, Konkan & Goa, Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Assam & Meghalaya. They are below normal(-1.6°C to-3.0°C) at isolated places over West Uttar Pradesh and near normal over rest parts of the country.

Weather Forecast for next 5 days * upto 0830 hours IST of 05th May 2019

♦ Temperatures are very likely to fall by by 2-3°C over many parts of west India during next 2 days. No significant change likely over the rest of the country during this period.Weather Outlook for subsequent 2 days from 05th May 2019 to 07th May 2019

♦ Widespread rainfall likely over East, northeast India & Andaman & Nicobar Islands and scattered to fairly widespread over western Himalayan region and northern plains; Isolated rainfall likely over west coasts and Lakshadweep.

♦ Dry weather likely over the rest of the country.

01 May (Day 2):

♦ Gale wind speed reaching 165-175 Kmph gusting to 195 kmph over westcentral & adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal off north Taminadu & Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Sea condition is phenomenal over westcentral Bay of Bengal neighbourhood and phenomenal sea conditionsover SW Bay & adjoining westcentral BOB and along & off north Tamilnadu Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas

♦ Thunderstorm & lightning accompanied with hail, gusty wind ( 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning (wind speed 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Assam& Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura, Jammu & Kashmir and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim; (wind speed 30-40 kmph) at isolated places over Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal.

♦ Duststorm/Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning & gusty wind ( 30-40 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

♦ Heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Arunachal Pradesh and Assam & Meghalaya. 

♦ Heat Wave Conditions very likely in many parts with isolated severe heat wave over Vidarbha.Heat wave to severe heat wave in some parts over West Madhya Pradesh; Heat Wave Conditions at some parts over East Madhya Pradesh and in isolated pockets over Uttar Pradesh and Marathwada.

02 May (Day 3): 

♦ Gale wind, speed reaching 160-170 kmph gusting to 190 kmph and phenomenal sea conditions likely over westcentral & adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal off north Tamilnadu & Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Phenomenal sea conditions likely over westcentral Bay of Bengal and over northwest Bay of Bengal. Rough to very rough sea conditions very likely along & off north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts.Squally wind speed reaching 40-50 Kmph gusting to 60 Kmph is very likely to commence along & off north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts.Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

♦ Thunderstorm & lightning accompanied with hail, gusty wind (40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and lightning (wind speed 50-60 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Gangetic West Bengal and East Uttar Pradesh. Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning (wind speed 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Assam & Meghalaya and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim; (wind speed 30-40 kmph) at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir, Bihar and Jharkhand.Duststorm/Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning & gusty wind ( 30-40 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh & Delhi and West Uttar Pradesh. 

♦ Heavy to very Heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh; heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya. 

♦ Heat Wave Conditions at some parts over Vidarbha and in isolated pockets over West Madhya Pradesh. 

03 May (Day 4): 

♦ Gale wind, speed reaching 160-170 kmph gusting to 190 kmph and phenomenal sea conditions likely over westcentral & adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal off north Tamilnadu & Puducherry and south Andhra Pradesh coasts. Phenomenal sea conditions likely over westcentral Bay of Bengal and over northwest Bay of Bengal. Rough to very rough sea conditions very likely along & off north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts.Squally wind speed reaching 60-70 Kmph gusting to 85 Kmph is very likely to commence along & off north Andhra Pradesh, Odisha & West Bengal coasts and become 170-180 kmph gusting to 200 kmph over Odisha coast and 90-100 Kmph gusting to 115 Kmph over adjoining districts of north Andhra Pradesh.Fishermen are advised not to venture into these areas.

♦ Thunderstorm & lightning accompanied with hail, gusty wind ( 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Uttarakhand. Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and lightning (wind speed 70-80 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Gangetic West Bengal Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and lightning (wind speed 50-60 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Bihar, Jharkhand and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim.Thunderstorm accompanied with squall and lightning (wind speed 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over East Uttar Pradesh. 

♦Thunderstorm accompanied with gusty winds and lightning (wind speed 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Arunachal Pradesh;(wind speed30-40 kmph) at isolated places over Jammu & Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh.Duststorm/Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning & gusty wind ( 40-50 kmph) at isolated places very likely over West Uttar Pradesh.

♦ Heavy to very heavy rain very likely at a few places over north Coastal Andhra Pradesh; heavy rain likely at isolated places over Assam & Meghalaya ,West Bengal and Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Tripura.

♦ Heat Wave Conditions in isolated pockets over Vidarbha. 

04 May (Day 5): 

♦ Gale wind, speed reaching 165-175 kmph gusting to 195 kmph and phenomenal sea conditions likely over westcentral & adjoining southwest Bay of Bengal and along & off Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal coasts. Phenomenal sea conditions likely over northwest Bay of Bengal.Rough to very rough sea conditions very likely along & off Odisha and West Bengal coasts. Squally wind speed reaching 90-100 Kmph gusting to 115 Kmph is very likely to commence over adjoining districts of north Andhra Pradesh, along & off West Bengal coasts. Fishermen are advised not to venture into theseareas.

♦ Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning & squall (wind speed 70-80 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Gangetic West Bengal and with (windspeed 50-60 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Bihar, Jharkhand and Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim. Thunderstorm accompanied with gustywinds and lightning (wind speed 30-40 kmph) at isolated places very likely over Uttarakhand. 

♦ Heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls likely at isolated places over Gangetic West Bengal and north Odisha; heavy rain very likely at isolated places over Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh  

"The very severe cyclonic storm is likely to intensify into an extremely severe cyclonic storm and likely to move northwestwards till May 1 evening. Thereafter, it is expected to recurve north-northeastwards towards the Odisha coast on May 3," a statement issued by the Met department on Tuesday read.

The storm is expected to make landfall at Gopalpur and Chandbali in Odisha on Friday afternoon and move towards the south Bengal coast. Calcutta and adjacent areas should receive one or two spells of rain over the next two days but their intensity is set to increase from Friday.

"Heavy to extremely heavy (70 to 200mm over 24 hours) rainfall is expected in Calcutta and adjoining areas on Saturday. Winds are expected to blow through the city at 90- 115kmph," a Met department official said.

An emergency control room will be operational 24x7 in all 16 borough offices of the Calcutta Municipal Corporation from Wednesday, a civic official said.

EVM caution The Bengal government has urged the chief electoral officer to ensure that electronic voting machines are not damaged in the dispersal-cum-reception centres of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies going to the polls on May 6 because of rain and storm that are likely to be triggered by Fani.