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Informist, Wednesday, Mar. 11, 2026

 

NEW DELHI – Temperature in several cities of Gujarat crossed the 40-degree Celsius mark in the first 10 days of March, signalling an early surge in pre-monsoon heat and making the state the hottest in the country, according to private weather forecaster Skymet Weather Services. Rajkot and Surendranagar recorded the country's highest temperature at 41.6 degrees Celsius, nearly 8 degrees Celsius above normal, the agency said. 

 

Ahmedabad, Gandhinagar, Surat, Deesa, Amreli, and Vadodara also exceeded the 40-degree Celsius mark, with temperatures in many places hovering 5–7 degrees Celsius above normal. In some pockets, the conditions are akin to severe heat wave.

 

Coastal Surat recorded a sultry 40.6 degrees Celsius, about 6.1 degrees Celsius above normal, while the port city of Kandla logged a high of 41.4 degrees Celsius, over 9 degrees Celsius above normal, the agency said.

 

Skymet attributed the rise in temperature to change in wind pattern over the state. The passage of western disturbances across the northern mountains has displaced the seasonal anticyclone, halting moist winds from the Arabian Sea, and replacing them with dry and hot winds from south Rajasthan and west Madhya Pradesh, it said. The absence of sea breeze along the coastal belt has further aggravated the heat.

 

The heat is widespread across the state, with Saurashtra, North and Central Gujarat, and South Coastal Gujarat all breaching the 40-degree Celsius mark early in the season, it said. "Normally, such high temperatures are witnessed in the last week of March, largely over the interior regions of the state."

 

This pattern is likely to continue till the weekend, the agency said, with no respite expected until then. "Exceptionally high temperatures during the first half of March are unusual and amount to near-historic levels for this time of the season," the agency noted.   End

 

Reported by Pallavi Singhal

Edited by Ashish Shirke

 

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