AHMEDABAD: Until May 27, Gujarat received 50.6 mm of rainfall against a long-range average of 2.5 mm, resulting in 20 times or 1925% more rain than the normal range, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data. It was the highest across Indian states, followed by 1225% in Maharashtra and 1190% in Goa.
These three coastal states in the west were the only states with more than 1000% rain against the normal average. For Gujarat, May is often the hottest month, and the normal onset of the southwest monsoon is June 15.According to the IMD, until May 27, Amreli received 117 mm of rainfall, followed by 104 mm in Valsad, 102 mm in Dangs, 98 mm in Bharuch, and 96 mm in Junagadh, among others. Weather sub-division wise, Saurashtra-Kutch received 1678% more rain, and the rest of Gujarat 1115%.Ashok Kumar Das, director of IMD Gujarat, said that in the past few years, it was one of the biggest departures from normal. “Since 2020, the state received some significant May rain in 2021 when the rainfall was 1419% against the average, as the base is around 2 mm. But apart from that, there are no major instances of significant rains. Multiple systems in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, and the Arabian Sea brought ample rain to the state. Almost all the districts received rain in May,” Das said.The intensity of unseasonal rain reduced in Gujarat on Wednesday, with only 8 talukas of south Gujarat recording 1 mm or more rainfall until 6 pm. Navsari received the highest 12 mm of rain in two hours from 6 am to 8 am. The forecast for Thursday indicated chances of light to moderate thunderstorms in all districts of Gujarat with gusty winds blowing at 40-50 kmph.The IMD forecast indicated the northern limit of the monsoon passing through Mumbai, Adilabad, Dantewada, and Agartala on Wednesday. “Conditions are favourable for further advance of the southwest monsoon over remaining parts of the northeastern states, some parts of West Bengal, and Sikkim during the next two days,” mentioned the forecast. An upper-air cyclonic circulation over west Rajasthan persisted on Wednesday.The partially cloudy weather brought down the maximum temperature in the city to 39 degrees celsius, which was 2.9 degrees lower than normal. At 29.1 degrees, the minimum temperature was 0.9 degrees higher than normal. On Thursday, the temperatures are likely to be in the same range, according to the IMD forecast.At 41.2 degrees, Kandla recorded the highest maximum temperature, followed by 40.7 degrees in Rajkot and 40.4 degrees in Bhavnagar, among others. The majority of the weather stations recorded maximum temperatures below 40 degrees.