Ahmedabad: The pre-monsoon activity that began across Gujarat on Sunday is set to continue with increased intensity this week. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast widespread rain, thunderstorms and gusty winds across the state over the next three days, with several districts likely to experience wind speeds of up to 60 kmph accompanied by lightning.

According to the IMD bulletin, light to moderate rain or thundershowers are expected across all districts of Gujarat on June 2 and June 3.

The IMD has issued an orange alert for thunderstorms in several districts. On Tuesday, Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli and Ahmedabad are likely to witness thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds reaching 50-60 kmph. Similar weather conditions are expected in Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Botad and Kutch.

Other districts, including Vadodara, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi, Dahod, Mahisagar and Panchmahal, may experience thunderstorms with wind speeds of 40-50 kmph. A yellow alert has been issued for these areas.

On June 3, the warning will continue for North Gujarat districts and Kutch, where gusty winds of 50-60 kmph are likely. Thunderstorms with winds of 40-50 kmph are also forecast in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bharuch, South Gujarat districts and most parts of Saurashtra.

The weather department expects rainfall activity to gradually decrease after June 5, with mainly isolated showers likely over South Gujarat and adjoining districts. Dry weather is forecast over most parts of Gujarat, Saurashtra and Kutch from June 8 onwards.

According to the IMD, rainfall activity remained vigorous across Gujarat during the past 24 hours. Heavy rainfall was recorded at isolated places in Ahmedabad and Surat districts, while rain occurred at most places in North Gujarat and many places in South Gujarat. Kutch remained largely dry.

The weather department attributed the unsettled weather conditions to multiple upper-air cyclonic circulations, a western disturbance over north India, and prevailing southwesterly to westerly winds over the region. Conditions are also becoming favourable for the further advance of the southwest monsoon over parts of the Arabian Sea and adjoining regions in the coming days.

For Ahmedabad, the IMD has forecast a generally cloudy sky with one or two spells of light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning till Wednesday morning. The city’s maximum temperature is expected to remain around 39°C. DeshGujarat