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Dry districts alert, May 2017

May 1, 2017 by Climate portal editor Leave a Comment

A large number of districts in south, peninsular, central and eastern India are experiencing dry and semi-arid conditions which will continue, and likely become worse, until the 2017 monsoon becomes active.

This list of districts is based on our re-working of the maps released weekly by the India Meteorological Department (Hydromet section in Pune), which show the district-level standardised precipitation index (or SPI). While this is not a drought or dryness index, the weekly SPI serves as a very reliable indicator of where water stress is occurring, and is therefore an invaluable aid for relief planning.

In this series of four maps, re-coloured by us to better display differences in SPI between regions and over time, the change in south India stands out.

Each map displays the SPI as a cumulative reading of the four weeks until the date given. That is why the change for any district – from ‘moderately dry’ to ‘severely dry’ for example – needs to be seen as having an immediate bearing on the available water, crop health and condition of forest and pasture for that district.

Based on the readings for 26 April 2017 this is the list of districts that need urgent attention.

Maharashtra: Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Kolhapur
Chhattisgarh (Raipur division): Gariaband, Raipur, Baloda Bazar
Odisha: Rayagada, Kandhamal, Angul, Cuttack
West Bengal: 24 Parganas North
Manipur: Chandel
Andhra Pradesh: Vizianagaram, Kurnool
Telengana (old district boundaries): Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Warangal, Khammam, Mahbubnagar
Karnataka: Bidar, Raichur, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Koppal, Gadag, Dharwad, Bellary, Shimoga
Tamil Nadu: Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Pudukkottai, Ramanathapuram, Toothukudi, Kaniyakumari, Theni, Coimbatore
Kerala: Malappuram, Thrissur, Ernakulam, Kottayam, Alapuzha

Preparing for the Indian summer

April 1, 2016 by Climate portal editor Leave a Comment

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued its forecast for the 2016 hot weather season (April to June). The forecast shows that during the 2016 hot weather season, temperatures (mean, maximum and minimum) in all the sub-divisions are likely to be above normal. All the temperatures (maximum, minimum and mean) of most of the subdivisions from northwest India, Kerala from south India and Vidharbha from Central India are likely to be above normal by 1.0° C or more. Read the full forecast document here (pdf).

The season averaged maximum temperatures of coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Meghalaya, sub-Himalayan west Bengal and Sikkim, and NMMT – Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura – are likely to be warmer by 0.5° C and that of the remaining subdivisions are likely to warmer than normal by 0.5° to 1° C. The season averaged minimum temperatures of sub-Himalayan west Bengal and Sikkim, and NMMT are likely to be warmer than normal by <0.5° C and that of the remaining subdivisions are likely to warmer than normal by 0.5° to 1° C.

There is also a high probability (76%) of maximum temperatures in the core heat wave zone during the 2016 hot weather season to be above normal. The core heat wave zone covers the states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, the National Capital Territory and Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha and Telengana and the meteorological sub-divisions of Marathwada, Vidharbha, Madhya Maharashtra and coastal Andhra Pradesh. This in turn suggests high probability of moderate and severe heat wave conditions in the core heat wave zone during the hot weather season.

From this season, the IMD will also provide extended range forecasts (five–day averaged forecasts for the next 15 days) of heat wave conditions over the country. This will be based on the Dynamical Extended Range Forecasting System developed by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM) in Pune. The forecast will consist of the probability of occurrence of hot days, heat waves and severe heat waves for the next 15 days updated every fifth day from 1 April, 2016. The forecasts will be available on the IMD website.

March heat patterns in India

March 25, 2016 by Climate portal editor Leave a Comment

From now until the end of March 2016, the maximum temperature anomalies will be less than what has been experienced in March until the 24th.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) numerical weather prediction service has however shown that maximum temperatures will still be above normal by 1 to 3 Celsius over most of central and northern India between 25 and 31 March.

We find that when read with the minimum temperature anomalies, most of peninsular, central and northern India have in March experienced an upward shift in overall temperatures by 1 to 3 Celsius. The meteorological sub-divisions of Telengana, Rayalaseema and coastal Andhra Pradesh in particular stand out for higher minimum temperatures.

Over the last week, maximum temperatures were markedly above normal (5.1° C or more) at most places over West Rajasthan; at many places over Uttarakhand and East Rajasthan; at a few places over Gujarat and at isolated places over Madhya Pradesh; appreciably above normal (3.1°C to 5.0°C) at most places over Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi; at many places over Punjab, rest Gujarat and West Madhya Pradesh.

Maximum temperatures were also appreciably above normal at a few places over Madhya Maharashtra and at isolated places over Marathawada, Vidarbha and Kerala; above normal (1.6°C to 3.0°C) at most places over Rayalaseema and West Uttar Pradesh; at many places over Tamil Nadu, Interior Karnataka, East Madhya Pradesh, and the north-eastern states.