(MENAFN- IANS) Kolkata, Oct 12 (IANS) The withdrawal of monsoon winds from West Bengal began on Sunday, with the sky clearing up and no forecast of heavy rain anywhere in the state.

According to the Meteorological (MeT) Office, the monsoon may leave Bengal entirely by October 18. This will pave the way for cool winds from the north to blow freely into the state, which will bring down the mercury.

A senior official of the Regional Meteorological Centre in Kolkata's Alipore on Sunday said the weather will change in the next few days, making a swift transition from monsoon to early arrival of winter.

"The process of withdrawal has begun from North Bengal today. The monsoon winds will leave entirely from South Bengal by October 18. Cool winds from the north will move freely into the state. This will result in a dip in the day's minimum and maximum temperature," said the official.

According to the MeT Office, the monsoon has already left Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh), Jabalpur (Madhya Pradesh) and Akola (Maharashtra). Monsoon may also depart from entire Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, parts of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and some parts of West Bengal, Odisha, and Sikkim in the next two to three days.

There is a cyclonic circulation over South Bangladesh. Due to its influence, scattered rains are likely in South Bengal till Sunday. The chances of rain will further decrease from Monday. However, there is no forecast of heavy rain in West Bengal.

The sky will be mostly cloudless, and the humidity in the air will also decrease. This year, West Bengal has been battered by record rainfall. On September 23, overnight incessant rain wreaked havoc in Kolkata, inundating almost the entire city.

Earlier this month, overnight heavy rain triggered massive landslides in North Bengal, killing about 40 people.

On Saturday, the maximum temperature in Kolkata was 30.4 degrees Celsius, 2.2 degrees below normal. The minimum temperature was 24.3 degrees Celsius, one degree below normal.

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