In a first, IMD to bring out summer forecast
- For the first time in its history, the India Meteorological Department — best known for its monsoon forecasts — will issue a summer forecast for April, May and June
IMD to bring out summer forecast
- Those involved say that though such a forecast may not be of much help to farmers — who rely on IMD’s rain forecasts to make sowing decisions and don’t plant their crops in these months — the information would be useful to power companies, several service-sector industries and state planners who’d like a heads-up on possible water shortages.
- In mid-March, the IMD will send out a colour-coded map of India, showing how temperatures in different regions of the country are likely to deviate from what’s normal, during summer months.
- These numbers would be updated every five days
- Businesses that have requested summer forecasts include manufacturers of refrigerators, air conditioners, ice cream and cold drinks
- The IMD’s initiative comes even as India bears the brunt of one of the longest and severest El Ninos ever experienced.
- Said to be responsible for two consecutive droughts as well awry winter patterns in North India, the El Nino — a meteorological phenomenon marked by an unusual warming of the surface waters of the Pacific Ocean and associated with droughts — is likely to continue for a couple of months more.
- The IMD does give warnings about imminent heatwaves and dry weather but these are no more than five days ahead.
- The key factor to forecasting weather a few months ahead is in ensuring that the computerised weather models are consistently able to simulate the weather as it actually plays out.
- Last month, the IMD officially expunged the word “drought” from its vocabulary, months after it correctly forecast one of India’s severest monsoon deficits last year.
