Kolkata: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) officially announced the complete withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon from West Bengal on Monday. This declaration signals the end of the rainy season for the state.

The IMD stated that the line of withdrawal is passing through Karwar, Kalburgi, Nizamabad, Kanker, Keonjhargarh, Sagar Island, and Guwahati. The weather agency has also forecast mainly dry weather conditions across West Bengal for the next seven days. In the 24 hours leading up to Monday morning, no rainfall was recorded in any part of the state, according to IMD data.

In Kolkata, the maximum temperature was recorded at 31 degrees Celsius, while the minimum was 24 degrees Celsius, both considered normal for this time of year. The Met office has predicted a partly cloudy sky in Kolkata until Tuesday morning.

Earlier, the IMD had indicated that conditions were becoming favorable for the monsoon's retreat from several other regions, including the remaining parts of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar, as well as the entirety of Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh, and some parts of Bengal, Sikkim, Odisha, and Telangana. The monsoon is also expected to withdraw from Northeast India in the following two to three days.

Met officials had previously been hesitant to confirm whether the monsoon would depart from Kolkata by Monday, although weather patterns suggested its imminent retreat. Meteorologists typically look for three to four consecutive days without rain, a decrease in atmospheric moisture, and a change in wind direction as key indicators of the monsoon's end.

A Met official in Alipore noted that dry northwesterly winds are now entering South Bengal, even in the lower atmosphere. This shift in wind flow, from the Bay of Bengal to northern India, signifies the seasonal transition. The usual date for the monsoon's withdrawal from Kolkata falls between October 10 and 12.

Kolkata has experienced a surplus in rainfall this monsoon season. October has been marked by a prolonged wet spell, including two days of substantial rain. This surplus has been attributed to a combination of weather systems in the Bay of Bengal and strong monsoon currents. The precipitation in October has mainly taken the form of thunderstorms, caused by the merging of dry winds from the northeast with moist winds from the Bay.

The IMD closely monitors several synoptic features to determine the withdrawal of the monsoon, including the cessation of rainfall for five consecutive days, the establishment of an anticyclone in the lower troposphere, and a significant reduction in moisture content. The withdrawal of the Southwest Monsoon from northwest India typically begins around September 15, with complete withdrawal by October 15.