Floods may strike at end of August, heatwave likely to persist

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has warned of short-term to medium-term floods in the last half of August, fuelled by heavy rains.

On Tuesday, the met office forecast low pressure in the Bay of the Bengal along with isolated mild heatwaves with the mercury rising to 36-38 degrees Celsius around the country in August, reports bdnews24.com.

The days and nights are likely to be warmer than usual throughout the month, it said.

Azizur Rahman, the director of the met office’s long-term forecast, said the overall rainfall around the country might be less than usual in August.

There might be one or two rainy season-induced lows in the Bay, which could transform into a depression.

The northern and central parts of the country might see moderate thunderstorms with lightning for one to two days while mild thunderstorms might occur around the country for three to four days in the month.

In the second half of August, heavy monsoon rains in the northeast and southeast might trigger floods, according to the forecast.

Floods devastated 18 districts, including Sunamganj, towards the start of the season in June this year, damaging assets of around Tk 870 million, said Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Enamur Rahman.

Heatwaves continued throughout July as well as Rajshahi and Saidpur recorded the highest temperature of 39 degrees Celsius.

The monsoon winds are blowing in the second half of the Bengali month of Srabon which might cause higher rainfall over the next five days, the met office said.

On Tuesday, mild to moderate rains occurred in Dhaka and other parts of the country with the highest rainfall, 53mm, being recorded in Barishal. Mongla registered the highest temperature of 36.1 degrees Celsius.

The forecast for Wednesday said: “Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh & Sylhet divisions and at a few places over Dhaka, Khulna, Barishal & Chattogram divisions with moderately heavy to heavy falls at places over the country.”

Arifuzzaman Bhuiyan, the executive engineer at the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, said moderate to heavy rains are likely to occur over northern, northeastern and adjoining parts of upper India in the next 24 hours.

This might cause the waters of the main rivers of the northern and northeastern regions to remain stable.