IMD issues extremely heavy rainfall alert for Gujarat, Uttarakhand; orange alert issued for Himachal Pradesh

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Gujarat and Uttarakhand over the next three days. According to the forecast, Gujarat will get heavy rainfall for the coming three days from July 21-24, while Uttarakhand will see heavy downpour during July 21-22. 

The weather agency has also issued an orange alert for very heavy rainfall for multiple states, including Himachal Pradesh, and northeastern states like Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Meghalaya. 

The weather body has predicted heavy rains to hit the regions of Konkan & Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh till July 24; Vidarbha will see heavy rainfall on July 21 and July 22, while Chhattisgarh and coastal Karnataka will get heavy rains today. 

IMD has also predicted heavy rainfall at places in North Interior Karnataka, Kerala, Mahe, Marathwada, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Yanam, and Telangana for July 21. 

Meanwhile, the national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 26.4 degrees Celsius, with the weather department predicting light rain during the day. 

The maximum temperature is likely to settle around 37 degree Celsius. The humidity was 98 per cent at 8.30 am. The Air Quality Index (AQI) of the national capital was recorded in the moderate category with a reading of 106 at 9 am, according to the Central Pollution Control Board. 

The IMD informed that light to moderate rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning is likely to occur in various districts of Himachal Pradesh. 

According to the weather department, the districts where rainfall is predicted include Kangra (Dharmsala, Jaisingpur), Mandi (Sarkaghat, Dharmpur, Slapper, Kotli, Mandi, Sundernagar), Hamirpur (Sujanpur Tihra, Hamirpur), Bilaspur (Swarghat, Bilaspur), Chamba Solan, Shimla, Sirmaur, and Kullu. 

There is prediction of heavy rainfall at places in Sub-Himalayan West Bengal & Sikkim during July 20-22; Gangetic West Bengal, Jharkhand and Bihar on July 22 and July 23; and Odisha, Vidarbha, Chhattisgarh, Coastal & South Interior Karnataka to see heavy rain for the next five days. 

Isolated heavy rains is predicted over West Uttar Pradesh, Haryana during July 21-24; West Rajasthan, East Uttar Pradesh during July 22-24; Punjab on July 22 and July 23, while Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, East Rajasthan will see isolated heavy rain activity during the next five days. 

In northeast India, isolated heavy rainfall accompanied with thunderstorm, lightning is predicted for the next four days.