Water levels to rise as rain intensifies over the next 2 days

The Bangladesh Meteorological Department has forecast more rain at the start of October, with temperatures likely to drop by 1 or 2 degrees Celsius, bringing some respite from the heat.

“The rain has largely started on the eastern side of the country,” said Meteorologist AKM Namul Haque on Tuesday. “There will be rain across a large stretch of Barishal and Dhaka on Wednesday. Conditions will be similar throughout the country.”

“But while the rain will intensify for two days, it will ease afterwards.”

The Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre says that water levels in the country’s rivers are likely to rise due to the rain.

However, FFWC Executive Engineer Sarder Udoy Raihan says:

“The water levels of rivers in the Sylhet and Chattogram divisions may rise for the next three days, but there is currently no risk of flooding.”

In its regular bulletin, the BMD said that most parts of the Dhaka, Barishal, Chattogram and Sylhet divisions, and many parts of the Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh, and Khulna divisions may experience temporary gusty winds and moderate rain or thunderstorms in the 24 hours from 9am on Tuesday.

Other parts of the country may also experience moderately heavy to heavy rain.

Meteorologist Nazmul said:

“There are low-flying clouds above Dhaka. The sky will remain cloudy with some chance of rain later on in the day. However, there is more chance of rain in the eastern part of Dhaka, Narsingdi and south Cumilla.”

Sylhet saw 142 mm of rain in the 24 hours to 6am on Tuesday, the highest in the country. Rangamati also saw 40 mm of rain, while Madaripur saw 29 mm.

Usually, 1-10 mm of rain over 24 hours is considered light, 11-22 mm is considered moderate, 23-43 mm is considered moderately heavy, 44-88 is considered heavy, and anything above 88 mm is considered very heavy.

The highest temperature across the country on Monday was 36.4 degrees Celsius in Mongla. The highest temperature in Dhaka was 31.8 degrees Celsius.

Day and night-time temperatures may drop by 1 to 2 degrees Celsius over the next 24 hours, the BMD forecast said.