CHENNAI: The city will get better cyclone forecast this monsoon as a Doppler weather radar atop Port Trust building which was crippled due a snag has been repaired and the meteorological department is planning to get weather data from a Doppler radar to be installed at IGCAR in Kalpakkam in the next couple of months.
The S band Doppler weather radar helps in tracking the thickness, speed, direction and eye of a cyclone and helps the meteorological department to make accurate forecasts about its track and landfall time. On Saturday, the Doppler weather radar atop Port Trust building, which was not operational for a year, was commissioned. On the occasion, IMD director general M Mohapatra said that the repaired radar will have a life of about 10 years and plans are on to procure a new radar to replace it. However, a location for the radar has not been identified.
He also said climate change has increased frequency and intensity of weather events and the department was planning to improve and add equipment to make forecasts more accurate. “The Met department is also working to install 15 rain gauges in the city and more automatic weather stations so that weather for areas of six km radius can be forecast,” he said.
He said that it was difficult to forecast if it rains heavily in a smaller area. “If it happens in less than one to two km it is difficult. But we are trying to improve. The state wide forecast accuracy is 79%. We will have 6km location specific forecast in three years. There is also a plan to have a forecast for every 2km.”
Stating that forecast accuracy has improved, helping the state government, he said that in 1966 around 1,800 people died when a cyclone hit Pamban, but cyclone Vardah which had the same intensity did not lead to loss of life in 2016. “Automatic rain gauge units have increased. We have a high power computing system to assess weather inputs to generate warnings. Thunderstorms are high and we have 80% forecast accuracy. We use radar, satellites, rain gauge inputs and run numerical models and analysis to forecast.”
Mohapatra also said that IMD would improve dissemination of weather information by relaunching the mobile app in regional languages.
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