Weather in Gujarat has never been so dry in the Monsoon season. Light rain in the last 24 hours in some cities of Gujarat did little to bring relief from the sultry weather. And Ahmedabad in particular has been extremely unlucky, as the city has not observed any rain since mid-May.
On Wednesday night, light rain was observed in Surat, Amreli, Dwarka, Porbandar and Baroda but the rain belt failed to reach Ahmedabad. Weather records of Ahmedabad are alarming, with only 1 mm of rain (18th June) in over a month.
While the eastern arm of the monsoon line or the NLM (Northern Limit of Monsoon) advanced into Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, the western arm has been stagnant for over fifteen days. The NLM had reached Surat and Veraval on the 16th June, which led to good spell of rain over many cities in Saurashtra and south Gujarat. The weather went dry thereafter.
In the next 24 hours, light isolated rain may occur in cities like Surat and Baroda but Ahmedabad may still have to wait for a week or more to experience any rain.
“Chances of rain look dismal for atleast next four to five days as there isn't any strong system affecting north Gujarat. Temperatures will be significantly above normal in the region”, said AVM (Retd) G.P Sharma.
Currently, the maximum temperature in Ahmedabad is seen recording four notches above the normal average, at 39.4⁰C. Nights too are very warm and uncomfortable with minimum hovering around 28⁰C. Meanwhile, the weather is expected to remain partly cloudy but there are no chances of rain.
Monsoon in the month of June has been the driest in the last ten years. In 2009, the long period average rainfall in June was 85 mm against the normal of 170 mm. However, this year, it has been only 81 mm, which has raised the cumulative rain deficit to 43% (till 1st July).
