Written by Anisha Ghosh
THE IMD has issued a yellow alert for all districts in south Bengal and an orange alert for the north Bengal districts such as Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and yellow alert for Cooch Behar and North Dinajpur.
According to the alerts, light to moderate thunderstorms and lightning accompanied by gusty winds (30–40 kmph) and light to moderate rainfall are likely to affect the areas of southern districts and the northern districts under the orange alert will likely experience heavy rainfall ranging from 07-20cm today.
Kolkata may see generally cloudy sky with chances of light to moderate rain or thundershowers in some areas over the next 24 hours. The maximum temperature is expected to be around 33°C, with the minimum around 27°C. Humidity levels remain high, with maximum relative humidity at 100% and minimum at 76%.
Today South Bengal was quite warm. The highest temperature was recorded in Bagdogra at 37.1°C, followed by Raiganj at 35.9°C, Jalpaiguri at 35.5°C, and Malda at 35.2°C. These places remained hot and humid during the day. In contrast, the coolest place in North Bengal was Darjeeling, where the minimum temperature dropped to 18.0°C, followed by Kalimpong at 20.5°C, Alipurduar at 24.0°C, and Balurghat at 25.9°C.
The monsoon trough at mean sea level now passes through center of Depression over northwest & adjoining areas of northeast Rajasthan, Fatehgarh, Muzaffarpur, Bankura, Contai and thence east southeastwards to northeast Bay of Bengal.
A trough runs from central parts of north Bihar to Odisha across Jharkhand at 0.9 km above mean sea level. A fresh Low Pressure area is likely to form over north Bay of Bengal around 24th July, 2025.
People have been advised to remain indoors during thunderstorm activity. Avoid movement in water logging areas and it is recommended to keep domestic animals in a safe place, the IMD said, also suggested to not use fertilizer and pesticides as it may wash out and stated the possibility of damage to horticulture and standing crops & vegetables in the field.
(Anisha Ghosh is an intern with The Indian Express)