Ahmedabad: The Southwest Monsoon has withdrawn from several parts of Gujarat, including Kutch, North Saurashtra, and Northern Gujarat. However, the state experienced an active spell of rain last week. Public attention is now shifting to the weather forecast for the upcoming two weeks, as Navratri is set to begin on Thursday, October 3rd.

According to the latest bulletin issued by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for the upcoming week, most of Gujarat is expected to remain dry for the first three days of Navratri, except for some districts in South Gujarat.

The bulletin mentions that from October 3rd to 5th, light to moderate rain and thundershowers are likely in isolated areas of South Gujarat, namely Surat, Dang, Tapi, Navsari, Valsad, as well as Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli. This means that Garba festivities in other parts of Gujarat can proceed uninterrupted, as dry weather is expected to prevail.

As of today, the withdrawal line of the Southwest Monsoon passes through Firozpur, Sirsa, Churu, Ajmer, Mount Abu, Deesa, Surendranagar, and Junagadh. The monsoon is expected to fully withdraw from Gujarat by October 5th.

Extended range Forecast

Looking ahead, curiosity remains about the weather for the rest of Navratri, which continues until October 12th. For this, we can rely on the long-range forecast from the IMD. The Extended range Forecast issued on September 26th, covering October 3rd to 9th, 2024, predicts scattered to fairly widespread rainfall in most parts of the country during the week.

During this period, isolated heavy rainfall is expected in parts of Peninsular India (especially Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, North Interior Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu) and East & Northeast India (Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, and Sikkim). Fortunately, no heavy rainfall is forecasted for Gujarat during this period.

Private weather analyst’s take

Meteorological expert Ambalal Patel has noted, “Light rain is expected between October 3rd and 5th. From October 7th to 12th, during Chitra Nakshatra, there may be some additional rain in Central Gujarat. Coastal regions and parts of North Gujarat may experience light gusts between October 10th and 12th.” DeshGujarat