Why Some States, Including Gujarat & Maharashtra, Receiving Unseasonal Rainfall | EXPLAINED

Unseasonal rains lashed parts of coastal India including Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan, while light rains were also predicted for other areas including Delhi, Kashmir, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

The widespread unseasonal rainfall in Gujarat led to the deaths of twenty people in the state, especially in the Southern part of the state and Surat city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said the rain activity is expected to abate on Monday.

Mumbai also experienced light showers accompanied by thunder on Sunday morning and the rainfall coupled with the cool breeze made the city weather pleasant. The Colaba observatory in South Mumbai recorded 9.2 mm of rainfall while the Santacruz observatory, representing the suburbs, recorded 5.2 mm in the past 24 hours.

Unusual Rains Across the Country

Apart from Mumbai and Gujarat, several other areas received light showers while others are expected to witness downpours in the coming days.

In addition to the Maharashtra capital, other parts of the state including the north central part and the Konkan region also received rainfall. The weather department issued an orange alert in Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Nasik, Aurangabad and Jalna.

In Gujarat, Ahmedabad city received 15 mm of rainfall in two hours on Sunday morning. Rains and hailstorms hit Rajkot, where locals were seen rejoicing at the scene created by the unseasonal rains.

The India Meteorological Department forecasted a generally cloudy sky with the possibility of very light rain or drizzle in Delhi from Sunday night. The IMD said there could be shallow to moderate fog after the rain.

In Kashmir, the minimum temperature at most places in Kashmir settled above the freezing point, providing some relief to the residents from the intense cold conditions. There are chances of light rain or/and snow at isolated to scattered places in the higher reaches of Kashmir from Monday till November 30.

What Caused the Unseasonal Rains?

The rains in several states were caused due to an upper air trough from Southwest Arabian Sea to Northeast Arabian Sea and a western disturbance along with a cyclonic circulation led to rains in adjoining Saurashtra, Kutch regions and parts of Rajasthan.

The India Meteorological Department said last week that a fresh western disturbance will affect Northwest India from Saturday. Such disturbances are low-pressure systems that originate over the Mediterranean Sea and move eastwards gathering moisture, which then gets dumped over North India, according to weather.com.

The disturbances then trigger scattered light to moderate rains and thunderstorms over states including Rajasthan, Gujarat, southwest Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra.

There were also host of local factors that led to rains in different parts of the country. Here’s a look at some of the local factors that led to the unusual rains:

Mumbai

The IMD Mumbai attributed the rainfall to westerly disturbances and winds from the Bay of Bengal. Officials said that the trough moved towards the Maharashtra coastline, which led to rainfall in coastal districts, including Mumbai. According to a report in The Times of India, a strong trough line was responsible for the unusual rains in Maharashtra.

Gujarat

The rains were being caused due to a cyclonic circulation lying over the northeast Arabian Sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch regions, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said. IMD’s Ahmedabad centre director Manorama Mohanty said rains will abate on Monday and remain concentrated in some parts of south Gujarat and Saurashtra districts.