Rain hits pause on April’s summer onset

Rajkot: Intense showers pounded several parts of Saurashtra's coastal belt on Friday, leading to monsoon-like scenes in the month of April when the state usually singes under scorching heat and races towards a peaking summer.At the time of the year when mercury begins climbing from early morning, the entire region including Kutch was blanketed by dense clouds which eventually brought rainfall in many parts of Devbhumi Dwarka, Gir Somnath and Kutch districts. Kalyanpur taluka in Devbhumi Dwarka district recorded 26mm of rain, while wet weather prevailed across all talukas, including Khambhaliya, Bhanvad and Okhamandal. The showers that left pools of water on roads in many towns and villages were accompanied by strong winds that made commuting difficult..In Veraval, residents work up to a wet and thunderous morning, leaving low-lying areas such as Subhash Road and Tapeshwar Road waterlogged. Unseasonal showers were also reported across parts of Kutch, including Gandhidham, Anjar and Bhachau. Rainfall activity extended to cities like Rajkot and Bhavnagar as well. In Dwarka, devotees had to rush under temporary canopy for a community meal as sudden showers hit the town. Hemal Vayeda, a businessman living in Dwarka town, said, "At this time of the year, daytime is sweltering in our coastal area. For the last two days, we are feeling like rainy season has set in."Meanwhile, daytime temperatures fell significantly across cities and towns with Rajkot cooling down to 30 degrees Celsius, a deviation of 9 degrees from normal. In absence of this weather twist, the temperature could have been blazing close to 40 degrees. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) attributed the wet spell to an upper-air cyclonic circulation over north Gujarat and a western disturbance over Afghanistan–Pakistan region. These systems are aiding cloud formation and triggering scattered showers and thunderstorms. The weather is likely to remain unsettled as a fresh western disturbance is likely to affect northwest India from April 7, which could bring another spell of rain and gusty winds to parts of the state. Cooler April forecastIMD has normal-to-below-normal maximum temperatures in April and for the April-June period across much of the state. "During April 2026, monthly maximum temperatures are likely to be normal to below normal over many parts of the country," stated the IMD, forecast which has also indicated chances of isolated instances of a rise in heatwave days from April to June in Gujarat.