Thunderstorms and rain likely in Kolkata; heavy rainfall alert issued for north Bengal

Kolkata is likely to witness thunderstorms and light rain on Sunday evening, while the India Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rainfall alert for several districts in north Bengal.

PTI, May 17, 2026, Kolkata : The weather department has predicted thunderstorms and rain in several south Bengal districts on Sunday evening, even as Kolkata recorded a maximum temperature of 34.8 degrees Celsius.

While the state capital's maximum temperature was one notch below normal, its minimum temperature of 28.4 degrees Celsius was 1.7 notches above normal.

The local weather office said Kolkata is likely to experience light rain and thunderstorms with winds gusting up to 30 to 40 kmph.

Similar weather conditions have been forecast for Howrah, Hooghly, South 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Bankura and Purba Bardhaman.

Intense thunderstorm activity with wind speed reaching 40 to 50 kmph is likely at isolated places in Nadia, Murshidabad, North 24 Parganas, Birbhum, Paschim Bardhaman, Purulia and Jhargram districts, it said.

North Bengal is expected to witness heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next few days, the meteorological department predicted.

It has issued a thunderstorm alert for the south Bengal districts till Monday, but the prevailing weather conditions are unlikely to bring any significant relief from the heat.

In north Bengal, the weather department warned of enhanced thunderstorm activity under the influence of strong moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal and an upper air cyclonic circulation over northeast Bihar.

Very heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places in Jalpaiguri and Alipurduar districts on Sunday, while Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Cooch Behar are expected to receive heavy rainfall.

The adverse weather conditions in north Bengal are expected to continue till Wednesday.

The southwest monsoon has advanced into large parts of the Andaman Sea, the southeast Arabian Sea and the Nicobar Islands, and conditions are favourable for its further advance into more parts of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman region over the next two to three days.

However, weather officials said it was still too early for the monsoon's arrival in West Bengal.