Ahmedabad: The southwest monsoon has made fresh progress into parts of Gujarat, covering Veraval, Bhavnagar, and Vadodara, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) confirmed in its latest update on Tuesday.
According to the IMD bulletin, the monsoon has now reached the entire Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra regions, as well as parts of Gujarat state, southwest Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and sections of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim. The northern limit of the monsoon currently passes through Veraval, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Khargone, Amravati, Durg, Bargarh, Chandbali, and Balurghat.
Weather experts suggest conditions are favourable for the monsoon to extend further into more parts of Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh, the remaining portions of Vidarbha, and additional regions of Chhattisgarh and Odisha within the next 24 hours. By the following two days, advancement into West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, and East Uttar Pradesh is also expected.
Adding to this, an upper-air cyclonic circulation over south Gujarat and nearby areas reaching up to 7.6 km above mean sea level may lead to the development of a low-pressure area soon. This system is predicted to intensify and move north-northwest, possibly bringing widespread rain. Meanwhile, a similar circulation over North Rajasthan has weakened.
Interestingly, Gujarat saw a slightly delayed monsoon onset this year. In contrast to last year’s early arrival on June 11, the monsoon touched parts of the state on June 16—just a day after its typical onset date of June 15.