IMD Issues Red Alert for 9 Gujarat Districts, Warns of Extremely Heavy Rain in Next 24 Hours

Gandhinagar: Amid the ongoing vigorous spell of monsoon rains lashing parts of Gujarat over the past few days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red, orange and yellow alerts for several districts, warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours.

According to the IMD bulletin, a red alert has been issued for Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Kheda and Surendranagar, where heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy spells is very likely till 8:30 am on July 26.

During the same period, an orange alert has been issued for Ahmedabad, Anand, Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Rajkot, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Botad and Kutch districts. These areas are likely to receive very heavy rainfall at a few places.

Meanwhile, the remaining districts, Dang, Tapi, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka, Porbandar, Junagadh and Gir Somnath—have been placed under a yellow alert, with heavy rainfall likely at isolated places.

Additionally, the Union Territories of Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu have also been placed under rainfall alerts by the IMD. While Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman are under an orange alert, Diu has been placed under a yellow alert.

Synoptic Situation

The IMD said the low-pressure area over southwest Rajasthan and adjoining areas persisted over the same region at 8:30 am on Friday. The associated cyclonic circulation now extends up to 5.8 km above mean sea level, tilting southwestwards with height.

The monsoon trough at mean sea level currently passes through Jaisalmer, the centre of the low-pressure area over southwest Rajasthan, Sheopur, Datia, Siddhi, Daltonganj and another low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal–north Odisha coast before extending southeastwards towards the northeast Bay of Bengal.

Under the influence of a cyclonic circulation over southwest Bengal and adjoining Bangladesh, another low-pressure area has formed over the northwest Bay of Bengal and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal–north Odisha coast. According to the IMD, this system is likely to linger over the region and intensify over the next two to three days.

An east-west shear zone associated with these two low-pressure systems is also extending across central India, while southwesterly to westerly winds continue to prevail over Gujarat at lower levels, creating favourable conditions for widespread rainfall across the state. DeshGujarat