Ahmedabad: The Sunday evening festivities of Garba have been called off at some of the biggest Garba events in Gujarat as rainfall lashed parts of the state today. However, the remaining days of Garba are also not safe, as rainfall is likely to continue across the state over the next 7 days.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) in its latest forecast has issued red, orange, and yellow alerts for several districts of Gujarat for the next 4 days, till October 1st. After that, light to moderate rain is likely to continue till October 4th.

As per the IMD bulletin, Red Alert has been issued for Surat, Navsari, and Valsad, as they are likely to witness heavy to very heavy rain with isolated extremely heavy falls till 8:30 am on 29th September. Chhota Udepur, Narmada, Bharuch, Dang, Tapi, Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Amreli and Bhavnagar, are on Orange Alert.

Meanwhile, Banaskantha, Patan, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Gandhinagar, Aravalli, Kheda, Ahmedabad, Anand, Panchmahal, Dahod, Mahisagar, Vadodara, Surendranagar, Rajkot, Junagadh, Gir Somnath, Botad, and in Diu have been put on Yellow Alert for heavy rain.

During the same period, yellow/orange warnings for light to moderate thunderstorms with lightning and surface wind speed of 30–50 kmph accompanied by light to moderate rain have been issued for the whole state of Gujarat.

On September 29th, Amreli, Gir Somnath, and Diu are on Red Alert for heavy to extremely heavy rains. Meanwhile, Surat, Dang, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi, Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajkot, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, and Botad are under Orange Alert.

Heavy rain is also very likely at isolated places in Banaskantha, Patan, Ahmedabad, Anand, and Bharuch, and in Saurashtra-Kutch districts, namely Surendranagar, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Morbi, Dwarka, and Kutch, which are under Yellow Alert.

Again, yellow/orange warnings for thunderstorms with lightning and wind speed of 30–50 kmph accompanied by light to moderate rain are issued for the whole state of Gujarat.

On September 30th, though there is no Red Alert, Porbandar, Junagadh, Dwarka, Gir Somnath, and Diu are on Orange Alert for heavy to very heavy rain. Surat, Dang, Navsari, Valsad, Tapi, Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, and Kutch are on Yellow Alert. Furthermore, state-wide yellow/orange warnings for thunderstorms with lightning and wind speed of 30–50 kmph remain in effect.

On October 1st, a Yellow Alert for heavy rains has been issued for Navsari, Valsad, Daman, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Porbandar, Junagadh, Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Kutch, and Diu. Additionally, the same districts, along with Bharuch, Surat, Dang, Tapi, Surendranagar, Amreli, Bhavnagar, Morbi, and Botad, are also on alert for thunderstorms with lightning and wind speed of 30–50 kmph.

After that, the intensity of rain is likely to reduce, and from October 2nd to 4th, light to moderate rain has been forecast across Gujarat districts.

Furthermore, the IMD also announced that monsoon withdrawal has come to a halt. The IMD bulletin stated, “The line of withdrawal of southwest monsoon continues to pass through 20°N/69°E, Veraval, Bharuch, Ujjain, Jhansi, Shahjahanpur and 30°N/81°E. Conditions are not favourable for further withdrawal of southwest monsoon during the next 7 days.”

Synoptic Situations:

• The morning’s well-marked low-pressure area over West Vidarbha and adjoining North Madhya Maharashtra persisted over the same region at 1430 hours IST on 28th September 2025. The associated cyclonic circulation extends up to 7.6 km above mean sea level, tilting southwestwards with height. It is likely to weaken further into a low-pressure area during the next 24 hours.

• It is expected to move nearly westwards across North Madhya Maharashtra, South Gujarat, and Saurashtra during 28th to 30th September, and emerge as a low-pressure area over the Northeast Arabian Sea off Gujarat coast by 1st October.

• An upper air cyclonic circulation is likely to emerge into the North Andaman Sea on 30th September. Under its influence, a low-pressure area is likely to form over North & adjoining Central Bay of Bengal around 1st October 2025.