India Meteorological Department

About India Meteorological Department

• It was established in 1875. It is the National Meteorological Service of the country and the principal government agency in all matters relating to meteorology and allied subjects.
• The DirectorGeneral of Meteorology is the Head of this organization.
• There are 6 Regional Meteorological Centres, each under a Deputy Director General with headquarters at Mumbai, Chennai, New Delhi, Calcutta, Nagpur and Guwahati.

Mandate

• To take meteorological observations and to provide current and forecast meteorological information for optimum operation of weather-sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, shipping, aviation, offshore oil explorations, etc.
• To warn against severe weather phenomena like tropical cyclones, norwesters, duststorms, heavy rains and snow, cold and heat waves, etc., which cause destruction of life and property.
• To provide meteorological statistics required for agriculture, water resource management, industries, oil exploration and other nation-building activities.
• To conduct and promote research in meteorology and allied disciplines.

Nodal ministry: Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES)

Headquarter: New Delhi.

Q1: What is a Cyclone?

It is a system of low level convergence and high level divergence with a rising column of air in the centre of the rotating air mass. If the upper air is not diverging then there cannot be a cyclone present.

Source: During the upcoming hot weather season (April to June), above Normal maximum Temperatures are likely over most parts of country, says IMD