Moderate rain brings some relief

A mild to moderately heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunder storms and lightning, occurred in the capital on Thursday afternoon, bringing some relief to people amid heat waves that continued for the last several days.
The rains that lasted for almost an hour started around 3.00 pm, giving the city dwellers some respite from the unbearable heat, and continued to soak the city. A met official said mild to heavy downpour also occurred in several other districts across the country, including the coastal areas.
However, people in most parts of the country including Dhaka may witness heavy rainfall from Saturday as a low pressure that has formed over East Central Bay and adjoining North Bay is likely to intensify, he said. Md Abdur Rahman Khan, a meteorologist at Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), also said a heavy downpour may continue from September 10 to September 14 due to depression in the bay.
Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind are likely to occur at a few places over Rangpur, Khulna, Barishal, Chattogram & Sylhet divisions in the next 24 hours, he told the FE.
Rain may occur at one or two places over Rajshahi, Dhaka and Mymensingh divisions with moderately heavy falls at different locations over the country, he stated. A marine warning bulletin issued by the BMD on Thursday said the maritime ports of Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Mongla and Payra had been asked to hoist local cautionary signal three.
All fishing boats and trawlers in the North Bay and deep sea have been advised to get close to the coast and proceed with caution until further notice, the bulletin added. Day and night temperatures may remain nearly unchanged over the country, it said.
In its next 7-hour forecast, the bulletin said weather conditions may deteriorate over the Southern part of the country.
Meanwhile, the flood situation may improve in the next 24-hour period as most of the country's major rivers are now in falling trend, according to a bulletin issued by Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre. The Ganges river is in falling trend, while the Padma river is in steady state which may continue in next 48 hours, according to the centre.
All the major rivers in the north-eastern region of the country are in a falling trend which may continue in the next 48 hours, it stated. The centre, however, says the Brahmaputra and Jamuna rivers are in rising trend, which may continue in next 48 hours.

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