'Sitrang' crosses B'desh coast; weather in south Bengal likely to improve: MeT

Kolkata, Oct 25: Cyclone 'Sitrang' crossed the Bangladesh coast near Barisal between 9.30 pm and 11.30 pm on Monday after skirting the West Bengal coast, the meteorological department said here. It said weather in south Bengal districts is likely to improve from forenoon on Tuesday.

The system, which moved towards Bangladesh from north Bay of Bengal at a speed of 56 kmph, caused moderate to heavy rain and squally weather in West Bengal's coastal districts of South 24 Parganas, North 24 Parganas and East Midnapore, dampening festive spirits on Diwali and Kali Puja.

Sitrang made landfall between Tinkona Island and Sandwip near Barisal in Bangladesh between 9.30 pm and 11.30 pm on Monday with a sustained wind speed of 80 to 90 kmph gusting to 100 kmph, the regional MeT centre here said.

It is very likely to weaken into a depression and then into a low pressure by Tuesday evening, it said. The weather office warned of squally wind with speed reaching 40 to 50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph along and off West Bengal coast on Tuesday morning, which will decrease gradually to 30 to 40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph by forenoon.