After a real long wait, Monsoon finally arrived in Gujarat on June 22, 2016. The Southwest Monsoon further advanced into some parts of north Arabian Sea, extreme southern parts of Gujarat state and some more parts of southwest Madhya Pradesh. The western end of the Northern Limit of Monsoon (NLM) now passes through Veraval and Surat in Gujarat.
This year Monsoon rains have been eagerly anticipated in Gujarat. This is firstly because the state had registered a deficiency of 27% in 2015. Marathwada was the other pocket to witness scanty rains. Marathwada now is in a better light as it has already started receiving rains. Moreover, Marathwada and other parts of Maharashtra are capable of receiving even in the pre-Monsoon or post-Monsoon season. Winter rains are also not unimaginable. But, Gujarat is one pocket which only receives Monsoon rains.
Secondly, the state had to wait for quite some time for Monsoon rains this year. Normally, Monsoon enters southern parts of Gujarat by June 15. Skymet had predicted a little delayed onset over Saurashtra and as expected it entered extreme south Gujarat by June 22.
As of now, a cyclonic circulation is persisting over South Rajasthan and adjoining Gujarat. This is leading to the flow of moist winds over many parts of Gujarat.
During last 24 hours, southern parts of Gujarat received heavy to very heavy rainfall. Light rainfall occurred at many districts of Gujarat. Surat received 79 mm of rain, Amreli 6 mm and Idar 5 mm. Earlier dry weather conditions had been prevailing since the beginning of Monsoon.
Now we expect light to moderate rains over southern and eastern parts of Gujarat for next 24 hours. Thereafter, southern parts of the state will continue to receive scattered light to moderate rains for next few days. The places to be affected include Veraval, Bhavnagar, Surat, Valsad and Amreli.
By June 27, we expect rain intensity to increase over entire Gujarat including neighboring regions of Southeast Rajasthan. Rainfall activities will remain subdued over northern parts. Thus, the Kutch region comprising of places like Bhuj and Naliya will have to wait for some more days for Monsoon rains.
Image Credit: livemint.com
Please Note: Any information picked up from here must be attributed to skymetweather.com
