Rains lash Ahmedabad as monsoon finally on track in Gujarat

Speculation over whether the state will remain rain-starved this year as well, finally came to rest this weekend.

With Saurashtra and Kutch receiving excessive rains this monsoon, the state which received scanty rain till July 21 has progressed towards the 'normal rain' parameter due to heavy downpour in the last three days. Gujarat, which normally gets 304.2 mm rainfall by July 24, has received 303.9 mm till now- which establishes that monsoon has fetched good rains to the state this year.

With three days of continuous heavy showers over the entire state, Gujarat no more remains thirsty. Saurashtra and Kutch region, which normally receive 237.1 mm rain by July 24 every year, has got 339.3 mm rainfall this year - which is 43% more than the usual.

With this, the whole Gujarat region, which normally gets 394.2 mm rain, has received actual rainfall of 263.3 mm till July 24. Though the region has got 33% less rain than its usual pattern, the region's rain deficiency has significantly lessened from 45 percent till July 21 to 33 percent on July 24.

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasts that this deficit over Gujarat region would normalise within next few days, as heavy rains are likely to occur.

Dr Kamaljit Ray, director, IMD, said, "The state has received more than the normal average rainfall, which is quite good. Especially, in Kutch and Saurashtra district, which have got 43 per cent more than the normal rainfall.” With this, the state has already received 35 per cent of its total seasonal rainfall for the entire monsoon, before the end of July.

Similarly, Gujarat’s normal average range of rainfall noted during the long period (1941-90) for the whole month of July is 360.6 mm and the state has already reached 304.2 mm rainfall by July 24 - which shows that Gujarat is close to getting its average rainfall for the month of July.

"The off shore trough from south Gujarat coast to Karnataka coast persists and heavy rain is forecasted to occur over Gujarat, and heavy to extremely heavy rainfall would occur at a few places over Gujarat region and Saurashtra and Kutch during the next 24 hours," Ray added.

However, a constant decrease in average seasonal rainfall has been observed over Gujarat since the last five years. The year 2009 saw the actual rainfall as 613.5, while it should had been 933.6 mm, 34% less than its usual pattern. Similarly, it got 918.2 mm rainfall during the monsoon in 2008 - which was 2 per cent less. Not corresponding to its depleting rainfall pattern, "this year's monsoon is forecasted to remain close to normal for Gujarat region," informed Ray.