Indian Meteorological Department

Heavy Rainfall Warning: : Heavy (7-11 cm in 24 hours) to very heavy rainfall (12-20 cm in 24 hours) is most likely to occur at one or two places on 17^th, Heavy rainfall (7-11 cm in 24 hours) is most likely to occur at one or two places on 18^th August in Kerala.

Fishermen Warning for Kerala coast and Lakshadweep area

(For next 24 hours valid from 1400 Hours IST of 17^th August 2018)

Strong winds mainly from Westerly direction speed occasionally reaching 35-45 kmph gusting to 60 kmph likely along and off Karnataka coast, North Kerala coast and over Lakshadweep area.

Strong winds from Westerly direction speed occasionally reaching 35-45 kmph gusting to 55 kmph likely along and off south Kerala coast.

High wave warning from INCOIS:

High waves in the range of 3.6 - 4.0 meters are forecasted during 17:30 hours on 16-08-2018 to 23:30 hours of 18-08-2018 along the coast of Karnataka from Mangalore to Karwar and 3.5 - 4.2 meters along the coast of Lakshadweep Islands from Minicoy to Bitra.

Sea condition is likely to be rough to very rough over Southwest and central Arabian sea.

Fishermen are advised not to venture into sea over Karnataka, North Kerala coasts, over Lakshadweep area and Southwest & central Arabian sea.

NOWCAST: 18-08-2018

Time of issue 0530 IST (Valid for next 3 hours)

Heavy rain accompanied with gusty wind speed reaching 60 kmph is expected in Thiruvananthapuram ,Kollam,Alappuzha, Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki & Ernakulam districts.

Meteorological Centre, Thiruvananthapuram

Meteorological Centre, Trivandrum

METEOROLOGICAL CENTRE, Thiruvananthapuram caters to the meteorological requirements of Kerala state and Lakshadweep Islands by supervising and coordinating the weather services in the state. Weather forecast (both aviation and non-aviation) for optimum operation of weather sensitive activities like agriculture, irrigation, aviation etc. and warnings against severe weather phenomena (over the state and nearby sea area) like heavy rains, thunderstorm, strong winds etc., which cause destruction to life and property are rendered by this centre under the technical advice of Area Cyclone Warning Centre of Regional Meteorological Centre at Chennai. Necessary Meteorological services for air navigation, towards the safety of aircraft operation in the state, is provided by Airport Meteorological Office - the Aviation section of this office.

The Challenging task of Weather forecasting is done effectively by taking meteorological observations (both at surface and in upper air) through about 16 observatories and about 79 raingauge stations all over the state and Lakshadweep Islands. 10 Surface observatories are maintained by IMD and the Part-time observatories and raingauge stations are located in the premises of State Government Offices, Railways and other organisations. The raingauge stations are maintained under District-wise Rainfall Monitoring Scheme (DRMS). Accuracy of meteorological observations is ensured by periodical inspection of observatories and raingauge stations by this Centre. Calibration of all instruments at observatories are checked at least once in two years. 15 automatic weather stations in Kerala and one in Lakshadweep Islands. 30 automatic raingauge stations in Kerala. The transmission of hourly data to HQ is carried out automatically through INSAT are also maintained by this office.

8 synoptic surface observations at 3 hourly interval starting from 00 UTC and 2 upper air observations (00 & 12 hrs UTC) using hydrogen filled balloon bound radiosonde/ GPS sonde with meteorological sensors and 2 pilot balloon observations at 06 & 18 hrs. UTC are taken by this office. Continuous watch over weather events is effected through different self recording surface met. instruments. The observational data of the above stations is collected and transmitted along with the observations taken at this office immediately at each synoptic hour, to our HQ at New Delhi through different modes of communication. HQ re-transmits the data pertaining to India and neighbouring countries to individual observatories. Based on these data, plotting of surface and upper air charts are done. Issue of daily weather forecast and severe weather warnings are done on the basis of the analysed weather charts and satellite imagery.

Agromet Advisory Unit is regularly issuing Agromet Advisory Bulletins twice a week for the benefit of the farming community in the state. Weather forecast, warnings and agromet bulletin are broadcast through AIR and Doordarshan.

Continuous monitoring of earthquake is done by state of the art instruments. Continuous monitoring of surface ozone, measurement of solar & terrestrial radiation and recording of atmospheric electricity form some routine activities of this office. Vertical distribution of atmospheric ozone is measured fortnightly by Ozonesonde ascents.

Climatology section undertake the scrutiny and archival of meteorological data and use such data over a number of years for answering various weather related enquiries from different users for research and planning purposes.

IMD Trivandrum

Weather Services