India’s weatherman turns 150 this month

India Meteorological Department (IMD) celebrates 150 years of providing crucial weather forecasts and services for various sectors.

From a common conversation starter to the deciding factor for agricultural output, weather occupies an important place. And, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has been telling people about sunny, rainy, and wintery days for over a century now. Come January 15, and the IMD, established in 1875, will be completing 150 years of service.

According to the department, the IMD is one of the earliest government departments created for systematic observation, regular reporting, and scientific forecasting of weather in the Indian subcontinent.

In terms of infrastructure, India has some of the oldest meteorological observatories in the world. However, the instrumental era of science and meteorology in India commenced with the establishment of the first Meteorological and Astronomical Observatory in (then) Madras in 1793. While the number gradually increased since then, the standards of instruments, and the time of observations were not fixed and the observations could not be utilised for predicting purposes. A group of scientists in the Asiatic Society of Bengal was also following up a scientific revolution to establish a national meteorological committee for standardising the instruments, exchanging data and utilising data for cyclone and flood disaster management and finding out the relationship between diseases and weather in India, explained an IMD document on its evolution.

“The Asiatic Society of Bengal represented to the Governor General in 1857. It was followed up by the formation of the Sanitation Committee in 1860 and finally, the Meteorological Committee at the provincial level was set up. Considering the limitations of provincial committees as the data were not exchanged, no guidance was generated at the all-India level and there was no uniformity and standardisation, the Asiatic Society of Bengal again reiterated the need for a National Meteorological Committee. Finally, the Governor General Council agreed to form the national committee. The India Meteorological Department was established in 1875 with H.F. Blanford as the Meteorological Reporter,” the document stated.

Among its major breakthroughs through its evolution were the preparation of the first chart in 1877, preparation of the first Daily Weather Report in 1878, preparation of climatology based on long-term observational data, followed by the commencement of radar age and flood Met services between 1947-1959, the commencement of the global satellite era in 1960-1970, global monitoring and better forecasting up to 24 hours in 1971-1983, the Indian Satellite era in 1984-1990, and the age of modernisation in 2006-13.

Between 2014 and 2023, there was rapid advancement in observation, communication and modelling facilities, paradigm shift in forecasting accuracy and services, and significant improvement in all fronts, including meteorological observations, communication, modelling, and infrastructure. “Accordingly, there was rapid enhancement of weather and climate services and also the forecast accuracy improved by 40-50%,” the document says.

The IMD today is manned by over 4,000 scientific personnel and boasts advanced meteorological instruments, state-of-the-art computing platforms, weather and climate prediction models, information processing and forecasting systems, and warning dissemination systems. With its headquarters in Delhi, it has six Regional Meteorological Centres (RMCs) catering to six regions of the country, which are further assisted by 26 Meteorological Centres (MCs) at the State level.