Closure of Alappuzha weather observatory to leave a hole in forecasting capabilities of IMD on coastal stretch

Even as the State has been demanding more weather monitoring stations in the wake of the rise in climate change-induced disasters, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) decision to close down it observatory in Alappuzha with effect from Tuesday may affect the weather monitoring capabilities in the coastal areas of the State.

The IMD temporarily closed down the observatory, which started functioning way back in 1931 in the wake of an eviction notice issued by the Port department.

The move will have a bearing on the forecasting capabilities of the agency along the coastal areas as there will be a big gap between Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode. The IMD’s four departmental observatories are in Thiruvananthapuram, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, and Kannur. Though it has part-time observatories at Punalur, Kottayam, and Palakkad, those are managed by local staff with less expertise and, many times, data absence has been reported from these observatories.

The move comes at a time when the State and the IMD are looking to enhance the weather monitoring network by setting up observatories in Idukki and Wayanad, where the IMD is finding it difficult to provide accurate forecasts in the absence of observatories in Ghat districts.

The IMD had enhanced its network in Kerala by setting up around 145 automatic weather stations and rain gauges in the past two years. However, the data from a good number of these stations are not reliable due to improper calibration, lack of maintenance, and lack of experts on instrumentation.

Moreover, the data from the manual observatories are mainly used for forecasting and the climatological data of the IMD are still based on manual observatories and rain gauges.

Manual observations play a key role in weather prediction of the first two days. Weather prediction for more than two days in advance can be given only by numerical models. Alappuzha is a coastal observatory where heat wave and warm night conditions have been declared by the IMD in recent times due to climate change, especially in 2024 and 2016, which are the recent hot years.

Speaking to The Hindu, Neetha K. Gopal, IMD Director, Thiruvananthapuram, says it is true that the manual observatory plays a key role in weather forecasting capabilities by providing valuable data.

“We had been trying to maintain the observatory there in discussion with the Port department as it was a decade-old arrangement with port officials. Now, they served an eviction notice stating that the building which houses the IMD observatory has to be used for other commercial purposes. But this is only a temporary closure, and the IMD will re-establish it somewhere near the area based on the availability of building and suitable location,” says Ms. Gopal.