Weather Updates: Heavy Rainfall Hits Gujarat, IMD Issues Rain Alert for Delhi

Heavy rain continued to batter Gujarat for the second day in a row on Monday. Kalyanpur taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka district recorded 174 millimeters of rain in just 12 hours, ending at 6 PM, according to PTI. In Surat, people were seen covering themselves with plastic sheets to shield from the downpour.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘red alert’ for several districts in Gujarat until Tuesday, June 2. Extremely heavy rain is expected in Surat, Navsari, Valsad in south Gujarat, and Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Dwarka, and Kutch in the Saurashtra-Kutch region. The IMD also forecasted heavy to very heavy rain in various parts of the state until July 3.

“On July 2, parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra may experience very heavy rain in isolated areas, while heavy rain will affect several parts of north and central Gujarat, as well as the Saurashtra region. On July 3, very heavy rain is expected in Surat, Navsari, Valsad, and in Daman and Dadra Nagar Haveli,” the IMD stated in a release.

The wet weather is due to two cyclonic circulations over the northern and southern parts of the state, according to the IMD.

Delhi on ‘Orange’ Alert

The IMD has issued an “orange” alert for Delhi from July 2 to July 3. The forecast predicts a cloudy sky for the next seven days, with moderate to heavy rain expected on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Private weather-forecasting agency Skymet also predicted a resurgence in rain activity in the capital starting from July 2. “The past two days have seen some respite from the downpours in Delhi and NCR. However, weather experts predict a resurgence in rain activity, likely intensified rainfall over Delhi starting from July 2,” Skymet said in a post on X.

Even though the IMD had predicted moderate to heavy rainfall and issued an “orange” alert for Monday, no rainfall was recorded in the capital.

Floods in Assam

The flood situation in Assam worsened on Monday, affecting over 6.44 lakh people across 19 districts, according to an official bulletin. At least eight rivers in the state are flowing above the danger mark, with the Brahmaputra breaching its highest flood level at Nematighat in Jorhat district.

The Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) reported that a total of 6,44,128 people are suffering due to the floods. Cities like Kamrup, Golaghat, Majuli, Lakhimpur, Karimganj, Cachar, Dhemaji, Morigaon, Udalguri, Dibrugarh, Tinsukia, Nagaon, Sivasagar, Darrang, Nalbari, Sonitpur, Tamulpur, Biswanath, and Jorhat have been submerged.

In Kalibor, authorities have directed vehicles to not exceed speeds of 20 or 40 km per hour due to the risk of injuring or killing animals marooned by the floods. “Speed of vehicles of any type must not exceed 20 or 40 km per hour as and where the same has been prescribed on the stretch of NH 715 (Old NH 37),” the directive stated, according to ANI.

IMD’s Latest Weather Forecast

The IMD predicted fairly widespread to widespread light to moderate rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, over Northwest and Central India for the next five days. Isolated heavy thunderstorms and lightning are also expected in these regions during this period.

Rainfall is likely in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana-Chandigarh-Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, East Rajasthan, and West Madhya Pradesh from July 1 to July 5. West Rajasthan will see rain on July 5, East Madhya Pradesh on July 3 and 4, and Chhattisgarh on July 2 and 3.

Himachal Pradesh is expected to receive isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall on July 2. Coastal areas of Karnataka are likely to experience heavy to very heavy rain on July 4 and 5. Isolated extremely heavy rainfall is expected in Arunachal Pradesh on July 4 and 5, and in Assam and Meghalaya on July 2.