Climate of India

Background One of the most intriguing questions in climate science is why the Indian summer monsoon behaves so differently even when large-scale climate conditions appear remarkably similar. Consider the years 1997 and 2015, for example. Both years witnessed one of the strongest El Niño events on record, accompanied by a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD). Based on these two climate signals alone, one might expect the Indian summer monsoon to respond in a similar way. Yet the outcomes were strikingly different. 1997: India received normal monsoon rainfall. 2015: India experienced a below-normal monsoon, with widespread rainfall deficits. This intriguing contrast motivated our recent study, published in Atmospheric Research , where we investigated why two seemingly similar climate years produced such different monsoon outcomes. Figure 1. Seasonal rainfall anomalies over India during the monsoon seasons of 1997 and 2015 , along with their difference (1997–2015). Although both years exp...

Introductory Note Climate variability and climate change are increasingly influencing our lives through more frequent and intense extreme weather events such as heat waves, heavy rainfall, floods, droughts, and cyclones. As these risks grow, there is a greater need for reliable climate information that can support planning, preparedness, and informed decision-making across sectors ranging from agriculture and water resources to health, energy, and disaster management. In October 2023, a significant stakeholder consultation workshop was organized in Lavasa, Pune, to discuss the establishment of a National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS) in India. The initiative aligns with the World Meteorological Organization's Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS), which seeks to strengthen the production, delivery, and use of climate information for societal benefit. The article reproduced below discusses the importance of NFCS-India, the role of the India Meteorological Department a...

2023 Cold Wave Conditions in India Many parts of India are currently experiencing cold wave conditions around 7 -8 January 2023. Severe cold wave with dense fog observed in the states like Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. The IMD had issued a red warning (meaning 'take action') over many regions in northwest and north India. Figure: Observed (top panel) maximum temperature, minimum temperature, and mean temperature and the  anomaly (bottom panel) of  over India during 7 - 8 January 2023 *Based on Realtime Data [Source: IMD] Figure: Observed minimum temperature  anomaly of  over India during 5 - 12 January 2023 *Based on Realtime Data [Source: IMD] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The criteria adopted by IMD to define Cold Wave is given below:  (A) Cold Wave Cold Wave conditions for plains or hilly regions Cold Wave is considered when the minimum temperature of a station is 10 C or l...

2022 annual statement on climate of India by IMD The annual mean temperature of India for the year 2022 was the fifth warmest year on record since 1901. The other four warmest years on record, in descending order, were 2016, 2009, 2017, and 2010. The pre-monsoon (March–May) period was exceptionally hot in 2022, and many parts of the country experienced severe heatwave conditions during this season. The image shows the all-India mean temperature anomaly for the years 1901–2022 with respect to the 1981–2010 climatology. There were several significant extreme weather events that occurred in India during 2022. India might be a unique country that experiences a variety of extreme weather events in a calendar year, from heatwaves to coldwaves; dust storms to snowfall; and from lightning/thunderstorms to heavy rainfall events/floods to cyclonic storms, etc. Furthermore, extreme events occurred across India from north to south and east to west. India experienced many extreme weather events in...

The India Meteorological Department released the December 2022 monthly climate summary. As per the report, the all-India mean temperature for December 2022 is the highest on record (21.49 ºC) since 1901. Similarly, the average maximum temperature for December 2022 is the second highest (27.32 ºC) after the year 2016 (27.75 ºC) while the average minimum temperature is also the second highest (15.65 ºC) after the year 2008 (15.69 ºC) since records began in 1901 (Table 1). The all-India spatial patterns of maximum, minimum and mean temperature for December 2022 is given in Figure 1. Coincidently, all three years (2008, 2016 and 2022) happened to be La Nina years (Figure 2) with December Nino3.4 index values of -0.90 ºC, -0.51ºC and -0.90 ºC respectively. Table 1: The observed temperatures during December 2022 for all India and four homogeneous regions with its ranks since 1901. Values are rounded off to nearest two decimal. [Source: IMD] Figure 1: Observed spatial tempe...

As the year 2022 has come to an end, a season from October to December, known as the post-monsoon season for India or the northeast monsoon season over south-peninsula India, also have come to an end. South Peninsular India, consisting of five meteorological subdivisions (Tamil Nadu, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Rayalaseema, Kerala, and South Interior Karnataka), receives about 30% of its annual rainfall during the Northeast monsoon season. The re-establishment of northeasterly trade-wind regime associated with the southward movement of the Inter Tropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) ushers-in the northeast monsoon, bringing much needed rainfall to the southern parts of India. However, the predictability of northeast monsoon is limited to some extent due to the strong day to day atmospheric variability caused by the passage of the synoptic scale weather systems such as easterly waves, lows, depressions, cyclones etc. The seasonal predictability of the northeast monsoon ov...

In the first section the observed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and rainfall anomaly for the month of November 2022 are discussed. Next, the present status, evolution, and prediction of the large-scale climate modes such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) that primarily influence the Indian climate are presented. Apart from this the observed weather conditions over India during the month of November 2022 also discussed. Global patterns of SST and Rainfall The global observed anomalies of Sea surface temperature (degree C) and rainfall (mm/day) for the previous month (November 2022) is given in Figure 1. The SST anomaly in the equatorial Pacific indicating the existence of La Niña. However, major parts of the global Oceans were with above normal SST anomaly. There was below normal rainfall in the central equatorial Pacific. north Australia and parts of southern Africa and South America in February 2022. Above normal rainfall was observed over equatorial...

 In the first section the observed Sea Surface Temperature (SST) and rainfall anomaly for the month of October 2022 are discussed. Next, the present status, evolution, and prediction of the large-scale climate modes such as El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) that primarily influence the Indian climate are presented. Apart from this the observed weather conditions over India during the month of October 2022 also discussed. Global patterns of SST and Rainfall Figure 1:   Sea surface temperature (SST) anomaly (C) and Precipitation Anomaly (mm/day) for October 2022. [SST data: NOAA ERSSTv5, Precipitation data: GPCPv2.3, Climatology: 1991-2020] El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO): Present Status Figure 2 : Tropical Pacific Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies (Left Panel) and changes in the SST anomalies (degree C) from the previous month (Right Panel) during August - October 2022.  [SST data: NOAA ERSSTv5, Climatology: 1991-2020] Figure ...