The Union Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has requested an explanation from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) regarding errors in daily weather forecasts for Mumbai. This request comes after a report by The Indian Express claiming the IMD’s rain forecasts for July were 42% inaccurate.
The MoES wants to determine what can be done to correct the current forecasting system. As per sources, both the central and regional departments of the IMD have been asked to provide an explanation for each day when the error occurred.
Also Read: 94-year-old Mumbai Central station to undergo renovation
Mumbai is equipped with advanced meteorological systems, including two Doppler weather radars and over 160 automatic weather monitoring stations in the city and surrounding areas. IMD Mumbai handles small-scale forecasting models, while the Centre manages large-scale models. The focus of the investigation is to identify which model or models are responsible for the forecasting errors.
An Indian Express report of August 18 highlighted that IMD provided inaccurate predictions for Mumbai on about 13 days in July, which is typically the city's wettest month. On eight of these days, the forecasts were more than 25% inaccurate. Additionally, the IMD Mumbai did not issue timely red alerts on July 7 and July 24/25.
Share
Tweet
