Ahmedabad: If the last few days have felt unusually hot for early March, the heat is set to intensify further as the weather office has issued a yellow alert for heatwave conditions in several cities of Gujarat. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast a sporadic heatwave impact in Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and several other districts on Monday and Tuesday, along with parts of Saurashtra.

In its bulletin, the IMD stated, “Heatwave conditions are very likely to prevail at isolated pockets over the Gujarat region, namely Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Banaskantha, Vadodara and Surat, and over Saurashtra-Kutch districts including Amreli, Rajkot, Surendranagar, Bhavnagar, Botad and Kutch” on March 9 and 10.”

Furthermore, the IMD said that hot and humid conditions are very likely to prevail at isolated places in the coastal areas of Saurashtra-Kutch from March 9 to March 11.

On Sunday, Ahmedabad recorded a maximum temperature of 39.4°C, which was 5.2 degrees above normal, while the minimum temperature last night stood at 21.8°C, about 3.9 degrees above normal. The forecast indicates a gradual rise of 2–3 degrees in both maximum and minimum temperatures over the next three days, after which no major change is expected.

In Rajkot and Surendranagar, the mercury touched 40°C for the first time this season on Sunday. Mahuva recorded 39.8°C, while Deesa reported 39.6°C. Surat, Vadodara and state capital Gandhinagar also recorded maximum temperatures above 39°C.

The IMD’s long-range outlook for March suggests a high probability of above-normal temperatures across most parts of Gujarat, indicating an early onset of intense summer conditions. DeshGujarat