Need more observatories for better weather forecasts: Rijiju

New Delhi: Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday said there was a need to set up more observatories to make better weather forecasts, including for the extreme rainfall events witnessed in Tamil Nadu.

Speaking to reporters after unveiling the new logo of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which enters its 150th anniversary year next month, Rijiju said Tamil Nadu receives heavy rainfall in December but there were no measures to prevent such heavy downpours.

"We only have to remain alert and take steps to prevent loss of lives,” the minister said.

Earth Sciences Secretary M Ravichandran said weather in the tropical regions was very difficult to forecast and none of the weather prediction models had anticipated 90 cm rainfall which was witnessed in Kayalpatnam municipality in Thoothukudi district of Tamil Nadu last week. The districts of Tirunelveli Kanyakumari and Tenakasi also experienced heavy rainfall.

Thirty-one people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi and Kanyakumari districts due to the unprecedented rainfall that occurred on December 17 and 18.

Ravichandran said forecasting weather in tropical regions was difficult due to the dynamic changes it undergoes in comparison to weather in higher latitudes.

"It is not the Indian (forecasting) model we are looking at. We are looking at a suite of models from Europe, the US, India and Japan. No model could capture this type of process. This is because of the sea nearby and the sudden development,” he said.

Ravichandran said efforts were on to further improve weather forecasting by installing a new high-power computing system and incorporating more observations from different weather stations.

India Meteorological Department was set up on January 15, 1875, and is set to enter its 150th anniversary year next month.

The weather office, which has its beginnings as a port warning centre in Kolkata, has grown exponentially over the past 150 years.

Ravichandran also urged the IMD to step up outreach efforts and inform the people what was possible to forecast and what was not.

Citing examples, Ravichandran said it was not possible to issue lightning forecasts a week in advance or to predict earthquakes.