IMD plans to put out niche forecasts

Pune: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) will start giving block-level weather forecasts and those for mountainous regions as well, director general L S Rathore, said on Tuesday.
“We are working on a tourism forecast, focus on customized city forecast, forecasting in as many cities as possible, identifying other users and giving information to make it useful for them,“ he said.
Rathore was in the city for a weather forecaster's workshop on enhancing their social media presence, giving out information that would be more relevant to users, identifying new users and targeting them with more precise information. He spoke about the schemes that IMD will take up to balance technological advancements and users' needs.
Rain radars and other observing systems will be installed in the western Himalayas and later in the northeast.“We are giving village-level weather forecast at the district level, but will now try to give it at the block-level too,“ Rathore added. The deployment of new systems in the mountainous regions will help obtain a clear picture of topography . “Forecast in one part cannot represent the weather for the whole area. Conditions in the valley , upper levels and middle level differ all the time,“ Rathore said. Through the new equipment, the IMD will try to understand how the Himalayas impact general circulation over the entire region and make more accurate forecasts.
The cyclone and heat wave warnings given by the IMD along with a response system from the state government works simultaneously to avoid fatalities, he said. The weather bureau is working on giving information on social media too.