Durga Puja weather is expected to turn largely dry across South Bengal from Saptami, with the weather office forecasting no rain from Ashtami to Ekadashi and clearer skies during the busiest days of the festival. The forecast offers relief to residents planning pandal visits, evening travel and outdoor celebrations across West Bengal.
The weather is expected to remain unsettled on Friday and Saturday, when parts of South Bengal may still receive light to moderate rain. South 24 Parganas and East Midnapore are likely to see rain in a few places, while isolated parts of the remaining South Bengal districts may also receive light showers.
The forecast indicates that the change will become more noticeable from Saptami. Weather across the South Bengal districts is expected to remain dry from Saptami through Ekadashi, while the possibility of rain from Ashtami to Ekadashi is currently considered unlikely. Skies are also expected to remain clear during this period.
The outlook is significant for festival movement because Durga Puja brings large numbers of residents onto city streets and into neighbourhoods hosting temporary pandals. Rain can slow traffic, create waterlogging risks and disrupt walking routes around crowded celebration areas. A dry forecast during Ashtami, Navami and Dashami is therefore likely to make outdoor movement easier, although the supplied forecast does not provide district-wise rainfall totals or any assessment of local drainage and traffic conditions.
North Bengal is expected to see a similar but more limited pattern. Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri and Kalimpong may receive light rain in one or two places on Friday and Saturday, while the remaining North Bengal districts are expected to remain mainly dry. On Sunday, isolated rain is possible in Darjeeling and Kalimpong.
The weather office has linked the current conditions to the withdrawal of the monsoon from the country, the beginning of the retreating monsoon over parts of southern India and the influence of northeasterly winds. A trough extending from the Comorin area towards the northwestern Bay of Bengal off the Odisha coast is passing over the southwest and west-central Bay of Bengal.
For festival-goers, the immediate outlook is consequently mixed: rain remains possible in parts of South Bengal before the main dry spell, while the forecast from Ashtami onwards is more favourable for pandal hopping across northern and southern parts of the state. The weather office’s current assessment covers the period through Ekadashi, with local conditions still expected to vary between districts.
