Centre to launch a forecast system for predicting thunderstorms and lightning by April

NEW DELHI: The Centre will launch an end-to-end forecast system for predicting thunderstorms and lightning across the country by April.


Prediction tools for this purpose are being developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune and India Meteorological Department (IMD), New Delhi in the backdrop of the last year’s pre-monsoon incidents of thunderstorms and very high wind speed-led dust storms that claimed about 200 lives in different north Indian states.

Union minister of earth sciences Harsh Vardhan on Monday said the IITM had already installed 48 lightning sensors across the country which could locate the thunderstorm and lightning activities on real time.

Besides, the IITM is installing a new dense rain-gauge network over Mumbai with the help of the IMD and the city municipal corporation. The network will have 200 rain-gauges and sophisticated radars. “This facility will help the city administration and general public know the prevailing rainfall situation in the city on real time basis. A mobile App for this purpose has already been developed,” said Vardhan.

The IITM, Pune has, meanwhile, developed a Mobile App called ‘DAMINI’ to give alerts on impending lightning activity. The App is available on Google Play Store.

These moves are part of multiple ongoing activities, undertaken by the ministry of earth sciences (MoES), to disseminate forecasts and warnings on time and more effectively to users, including farmers and city dwellers, through new website and mobile Apps. These Apps will be ready for launch by June.

Besides, the IMD has planned to strengthen its ‘observational network’ by end of this year through installation of sophisticated radars over north-west Himalayas (Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand).

“In addition, IMD is installing 200 Automated Weather Stations (AWS) at district Agromet units for providing weather services to farmers. Another 200 AWS will be installed over major cities and towns for providing City Specific Weather information and forecasts,” said the minister.

All these observatories are expected to be established by end of 2020. Sophisticated radars will also be installed over Andaman & Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep Islands by 2020.

“On the specific request from Kerala government, the IMD will be installing 100 new AWS, including rain-gauges, to monitor weather activities in the state,” said an official.