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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Computer foretells disaster but unheard-GS Mudur and Tapas Chakraborty

Computer foretells disaster but unheard-GS Mudur and Tapas Chakraborty

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published Published on Jun 21, 2013   modified Modified on Jun 21, 2013
-The Telegraph


A set of numbers, portents of atmospheric changes in the skies over India, had told meteorologist Om Prakash Singh something rare was going to happen over northwest India.

It was Thursday, June 13, and a supercomputer that routinely crunches out five-day forecasts had consistently predicted a confluence of two weather systems, likely to take place by the weekend and deliver copious rainfall.

As Singh and his colleagues at the India Meteorological Department (IMD) analysed the numbers and pooled their collective years of forecasting experience, several thousand pilgrims and tourists made their way across the mountains of Uttarakhand. Around 13,000 pilgrims made their way to the Kedarnath region alone between June 15 and 17, according to statistics cited by Rakesh Sharma, principal secretary to the chief minister.

The visitors were oblivious to what the weather scientists knew - a low-pressure system from the Bay of Bengal and an upper air trough from western Asia were about to merge over northwest India.

"From our experience, we knew there would be very heavy rainfall," said Singh, deputy director-general of meteorology at the IMD. His team's analysis indicated that Uttarakhand was likely to be among the sites to receive heavy rainfall.

The IMD issued a preliminary weather advisory on June 11 and then a second warning of heavy rainfall on June 13, two days ahead of the torrential rain.

For the thousands in the mountains, it didn't help.

The low-pressure system bearing moisture from the Bay of Bengal and the upper air trough loaded with moisture from the Arabian Sea had converged over Haryana and Punjab. "The confluence of such systems by itself is not unusual during the monsoon season," Singh said. "But the amount of moisture they brought in and the resultant rainfall were exceptional."

The upper air trough changed the path of the low-pressure system. After the merger, both moved towards Uttarakhand, Singh said. This interaction delivered an extremely high amount of rainfall.

Since the start of the monsoon season on June 1, Uttarakhand has received 402 per cent of the normal volume of rain it was expected to receive so far. Weather stations across the state recorded exceptionally high rainfall between June 15 and 17.

The state has only three flood-forecasting stations: one on the banks of the Alakananda, and the others at Hardwar and Rishikesh on the Ganga. Flood-forecasting officers in the state were unavailable for comment on whether warnings were issued.

Scientists say that residents of mountainous regions and tourists should make greater use of the IMD's numerical weather forecasts that are issued about five days in advance.The IMD has decided to issue a seven-day forecast for sites along the Chaar Dham yatra - Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath - and Hemkund Sahib. The forecast is available at: http://amssdelhi.gov.in/chardham/chardham.html

The confluence of the upper air trough and the low-pressure system had another rare effect: it pushed the monsoon line across northwest India. The monsoon covered the entire country about a month in advance of the normal date, July 15.


The Telegraph, 21 June, 2013, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1130621/jsp/frontpage/story_17032034.jsp#.UcQdodjcjco


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