IMD Warns of Very Heavy Rain in Gujarat Till Aug 1; Red Alert for Several Districts on July 30

Ahmedabad: After a brief respite, the monsoon is set to regain strength in Gujarat, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall across parts of the state over the next four days, till August 1. The IMD has issued yellow, orange and red alerts for different districts, warning of isolated spells of extremely heavy rainfall. Ahmedabad, Surat and Vadodara are among the key cities placed under a red alert on July 31.

According to the IMD bulletin, a yellow alert for heavy rainfall has been issued for the next 24 hours in Mahisagar, Dahod, Panchmahal and Chhota Udepur. A yellow warning for thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, and light to moderate rain has also been issued across most parts of the state.

On July 30, an orange alert has been issued for Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Navsari, Valsad, Daman, and Dadra & Nagar Haveli, where very heavy rainfall is likely. A yellow alert has also been announced for Panchmahal, Dahod, Vadodara and Bharuch.

On July 31, a red alert has been issued for parts of Ahmedabad, Anand, Vadodara, Narmada, Bharuch, Surat, Tapi and Dang, where extremely heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places.

An orange alert will remain in effect for several districts, with very heavy rainfall expected, particularly in South, Central and North Gujarat. Meanwhile, a yellow alert has been issued across a large part of the state for heavy rain, thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds of 30-40 kmph, with the IMD advising people in vulnerable areas to remain cautious.

On August 1, Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Ahmedabad, Anand and Bharuch will remain under an orange alert. A yellow alert has been issued for Panchmahal, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Surat, Navsari, Valsad, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Botad and Kutch, where heavy rainfall is likely.

From August 2 to August 4, the IMD has forecast light to moderate rainfall across Gujarat.

Synoptic Situation

According to the IMD, the deep depression over north interior Odisha and adjoining south Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh moved westwards and was centred over central Chhattisgarh on Wednesday morning. The system is expected to continue moving westwards across Chhattisgarh and east Madhya Pradesh over the next 24 hours.

The monsoon trough currently extends from Sri Ganganagar through Bhiwani, Gwalior, Sidhi and the centre of the deep depression to Puri, before extending southeastwards into the central Bay of Bengal. An east-west shear zone persists across central India, while a western disturbance is active over north Pakistan and adjoining Jammu division. The upper-air cyclonic circulation over northwest Madhya Pradesh has merged with the monsoon trough.

The IMD said southwesterly to westerly winds are prevailing over Gujarat at lower levels, creating favourable conditions for widespread rainfall activity across the state over the next few days. DeshGujarat