Met junks monsoon model, buys US one

In a move that will redefine weather forecasting in India, the country has decided to dump the old home-grown statistical model currently in use for monsoon prediction and weather forecasting. The Department of Science and Technology is buying a spanking new numerical weather prediction model from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), Boulder Colorado, USA.

In response to criticism that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) is repeatedly failing to predict droughts and floods, the Government decided to collaborate with this nodal weather centre in USA.

The very advanced and modern numerical model, called the Weather Research and Forecasting model (WRF), is being used by the USA. Dr.V.S.Ramamurthy, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology, who has just returned from the USA after having negotiated the deal, says over the next few months this model will be validated for Indian conditions and then deployed for operational forecasting.