Severe thunderstorms to hit West Bengal till Sunday

Severe thunderstorms will hit parts of West Bengal with wind speed reaching up to 65 to 70 kilometre per hour till Sunday, according to the Met department.

The weatherman warned of heavy rain accompanied with hailstorm, high winds with speed reaching up to 70 km per hour in several parts of the state.

"Thundersquall accompanied with wind speed between 55 to 65 km per hour is very likely to prevail over the districts of Bankura, Birbhum, East and West Bardhman, Murshidabad, Nadia, Jhargram, Purulia, East and West Midnapore, Howrah, Hooghly, Kolkata and North and South 24 Parganas of south West Bengal on Saturday and Sunday," Regional Met Director G K Das said.

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Similar weather conditions would continue in the districts of Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Coochbehar, Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong, Malda, North and South Dinajpur in northern parts of West Bengal till Sunday.

These districts would be affected by thundersquall accompanied with wind speed reaching up to 45-55 km per hour on Saturday, Das said.

"The severe thunderstorms with high wind speed that are likely to affect most parts of the state are owing to a north-south trough over eastern part of Bihar to south interior Odisha," Das said.

The weather system is likely to strengthen during the next two days with embedded cyclonic circulation over east Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, Das said.