Season’s first heatwave is here; Yellow Alert issued for Ahmedabad

Ahmedabad: If you have been feeling that the past few days have been a bit too hot for early March, the sun plans to crank up its heat even more in what the weather office is calling the season's first yellow alert. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast ‘sporadic heatwave impact' in Ahmedabad and several other districts for Monday and Tuesday. A yellow alert was issued for Kutch and Rajkot on Sunday.This alert for Monday and Tuesday covers Kutch, Banaskantha, Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Amerli, Bhavnagar, Botad, Vadodara, and Surat. These districts may experience temperatures above normal, with hot and humid conditions forecast for coastal areas. Temperatures are likely to stabilize from March 11 onwards, according to IMD. On Sunday, Ahmedabad recorded a maximum temperature of 39.4 degrees celsius, which was 5.2 degrees above normal. At 19.1 degrees celsius, the minimum temperature was 1.2 degrees higher than normal. The forecast indicated a gradual rise in maximum and minimum temperatures by two to three degrees during the next three days. Thereafter, there will be no large change. In Rajkot and Surendranagar, the mercury touched 40 degrees celsius on Sunday for the first time this summer. Following closely was Mahua (39.8 degrees) and Deesa (39.6). IMD's long-range forecast for March indicates chances of above-normal temperatures for the majority of regions of Gujarat state.