As weather patterns grow more unpredictable due to climate crisis, India is taking a giant leap with "Mission Mausam" to improve weather understanding and forecasting through expanded observation networks, better modeling and advanced tools like AI and machine learning.
Mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius in large parts of the country on Monday as the Indian meteorological department predicted heat wave conditions in parts of east India over the next four days and the northwest region over the next two days.
Map showing how much rainfall various districts of India received.
Southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Friday marking the start of the rainy season, four days after its normal onset date.
Athletes and climate experts have expressed concerns that extreme heat could lead to severe health issues, including the risk of sportspeople collapsing or, in the worst-case scenarios, dying during the events.
"Conditions are favourable for the onset of southwest monsoon over Kerala and its further advance into some more parts of south Arabian sea, remaining parts of Maldives - Comorin area, some parts of Tamil Nadu and some more parts of Bay of Bengal during the next 24 hours," said a statement by the Indian Meteorological Department.
States are mandated to develop and implement 'heat HAPs' for prevention of heat-induced diseases. But most do not go beyond standard advisory on heat prevention.
Several areas of Tamil Nadu remain inundated after hours of heavy to moderate rainfall in the region. Water entered houses and markets in the low-lying residential areas of Erode district due to heavy rainfall throughout the night.
The method is based on a network analysis of regional weather data.
IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said the department's modelling indicate formation of a cyclonic storm around May 9, but its movement and intensification may be determined after the low pressure area actually forms on May 7.
Massive preparedness, speedy evacuation plans and almost accurate prediction of cyclone time and path have saved the country from a natural disaster which could have taken thousands of live.
Over the past few days, deaths due to heat stroke have been reported from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha.
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Thursday, causing waterlogging on roads in some areas that led to traffic snarls and also delayed local train operations.
The IMD director said, the cyclonic storm Tauktae in the Arabian sea is moving away from the Kerala coast and is now approaching the Karnataka coast.
With heavy rain since Sunday and more being forecast for Tuesday, a cloud of uncertainty looms over the Indian Premier League's first qualifier between Kolkata Knight Riders and Kings XI Punjab, at the Eden Gardens. Both teams had to skip Monday's practice as the ground remained under cover.
Here's a map showing the monsoon situation across the country.
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast a below-normal monsoon this year because of the El-Nino effect.
The above map shows the amount of rainfall received by each district from June 1 to July 24, 2019.
Because the ecology of various regions differs, it is silly to club them all under one countrywide average number, says Nitin Sethi.
Delayed by 10 days due to cyclone Biparjoy, southwest monsoon is likely to progress further and hit Mumbai between June 23 and 25, the India meteorological department said on Wednesday.
The tremor measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale was recorded at 0106 IST. The epicentre was at 6.2 degrees North Latitude and 92.2 degrees East Longitude.
The monsoon has finally brought back smiles to the faces of people, especially farmers, of India.
Very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places in Kerala on Wednesday.
The south-west monsoon, crucial for the country's agriculture-based economy, is likely to hit the Kerala coast by June 2, the Indian Meteorological Department said on Thursday.
North India was shaken by an earthquake of 5.7 magnitude on Richter Scale this evening but there was no immediate report of any loss of life or property. The quake occurred at 5:02 pm, the Indian Meteorological Department said.
There are conflicting reports about the magnitude of the earthquake that shook Delhi and its adjoining areas. While the Indian Meteorological Department measured the quake at a scale of 4.9, the United States Geological Survey put the magnitude at 5.2 on the Richter scale.
Threat of any further destruction by Laila in coastal Andhra Pradesh dissipated on Friday as the cyclonic storm gradually weakened into severe depression and then into depression over coastal Andhra Pradesh. According to the latest press release of Indian Meteorological Department, it lay centered about 100 km west of Kakinada.
A great intensity earthquake of 7.6 magnitude on Richter scale struck off the Andaman and Nicobar islands today, Indian Meteorological Department said.
Poor rainfall in rain-dependent central and southern India in the next three weeks could affect agricultural GDP growth in the coming season, a report by broking firm Motilal Oswal has said.
ISRO chairman S Somanath said the success gave the space agency "greater confidence," as the GSLV will be next deployed in the NISAR mission, a collaborative effort with the US' NASA.
An amount of Rs 12 crore has been earmarked for the project.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the borewell in his house in Sadashivanagar in the state capital has gone dry for the first time. This happened despite the fact that Sadashivanagar is located next to Sankey Lake.
The monsoon situation in the northern region of the country will improve over the next couple of days and August will receive above average rainfall, Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar has assured.Quoting the latest report from the Indian Meteorological Department, Pawar told reporters in Hyderabad on Saturday that the states of Punjab, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar and Himachal Pradesh will receive 86 per cent rainfall during July.
He said scientists have noticed a trend of very deep cloud systems developing over the southeast Arabian Sea, and added that sometimes, these systems intrude into the land, like in 2019.
The Indian Meteorological Department said though Cyclone Laila has weakened, the danger is not over yet as there were signs of it re-emerging in northern Bay of Bengal over the weekend.
Cyclonic storm Laila finally struck the Andhra coast 50 km north of Bapatla town of Guntur district on Thursday afternoon.
"Conditions are favourable for dust storms over Delhi and nearby areas. We are expecting a fall in temperatures," Dr R D Singh of the Indian Meteorology Department said.
With the monsoon continuing its northward advance, the weather department is expecting its onset in Delhi within the next five days.
