Yellow Alert for Heavy Rain in Parts of Gujarat Over Next 48 Hours: IMD Forecast

Ahmedabad: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for heavy rain at isolated places in parts of Gujarat over the next 48 hours, with several districts likely to receive light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds.

Today, heavy rain is likely at isolated places in Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Dahod, Mahisagar, Dang, Tapi, Navsari and Valsad, as well as in Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Light to moderate rain accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and surface winds of 30-40 kmph is also expected at isolated places across parts of North Gujarat, South Gujarat and Saurashtra-Kutch. The affected areas include Patan, Mehsana, Gandhinagar, Panchmahal, Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Amreli, Bhavnagar and Kutch, among others.

On August 15, the possibility of heavy rain will remain mainly over Dang, Tapi, Navsari and Valsad, along with Daman, Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds of 30-40 kmph and light to moderate rain are also likely at isolated places in Banaskantha, Vav-Tharad, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Chhota Udepur and Narmada.

From August 16 to 20, light to moderate rain and thundershowers are likely at most places across Gujarat, according to the IMD.

The weather conditions are being influenced by a depression over Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal. The system moved west-northwestwards at a speed of around 18 kmph during the past six hours and was centred near latitude 23.2°N and longitude 85.5°E at 8.30 am on August 14. The IMD said the depression is likely to continue moving west-northwestwards across Jharkhand and north Chhattisgarh and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during the next 12 hours.

The monsoon trough at mean sea level currently extends from Firozpur through Muzaffarnagar, Fatehgarh and Daltonganj, passing through the centre of the depression over Jharkhand and adjoining Gangetic West Bengal, before extending towards Digha and the east-central Bay of Bengal.

An upper-air cyclonic circulation is also present over southwest Rajasthan and adjoining Pakistan between 3.1 km and 4.5 km above mean sea level. In addition, a north-south trough extends from northwest Rajasthan to the northeast Arabian Sea across Gujarat at around 1.5 km above mean sea level.

The IMD said southwesterly to westerly winds are prevailing at lower levels over the region, supporting the ongoing wet weather conditions across parts of Gujarat. DeshGujarat