The United States government will give its first forecast for the 2014-15 hard red winter Wheat (HRW) crop, and analysts on average are expecting it to be above last year's 744 million bushels, de-spite one of the harshest winters on record and a severe drought. Hard Red Winter Wheat is the biggest part of the US Wheat harvest and is used to make flour for bread.
This could be good news for the people who travel to the hilly state of Uttarakhand to visit religious places like Kedarnath and Badrinath. The Central government has approved a project to install ultra modern weather station in the state. “The Central government has already given its nod to a project worth Rs 116 crore for installing a state-of-the-art automatic weather station and radar in the state, said Subhash Kumar, chief secretary of the state after meeting with the officials from the Indian Meteorological Department on Thursday in Dehradun.
Under the project, the Indian Meteorological Department is preparing to install three doplar radars, 75 rain gauge metres, five micro rain radars, 4 compact radars, 75 weather stations besides introducing a helicopter support weather system in the state to improve the weather warning system and make precise forecasts, said IMD Managing Director L S Rathore who was in Dehradun to find a land for the purpose.
Since last June when a natural calamity of catastrophic proportions hit the state, the government has been demanding from the Centre to take effective steps to tone up the weather warning system in the state.
Last year, monsoon in India had covered substantial parts of the country spreading over 10 states extending from Bihar to Rajasthan between 14th and 16th June thereby completing onset one month before the normal dates. This had caused a natural calamity of catastrophic proportions killing more than 5000 people in flash floods.
The state is currently witnessing an influx of thousands of pilgrims who are here on the Char Dham Yatra which started on 2nd of May.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, the well-marked low pressure system which brought widespread heavy rain in South India till three days back, now lies over Odisha as a cyclonic circulation and is expected to become insignificant in the next 48 hours.
Till Friday, the system was affecting Andhra Pradesh and brought good amounts of rain in many cities, such as Kakinada (146 mm), Hyderabad (19 mm) and Visakhapatnam (66 mm). However, it moved in the northeast direction and shifted to Odisha giving widespread rain in the state, with the capital city Bhuvaneswar receiving 18 mm of rain.
Other cities which recorded rain in Odisha were: Balasore – 13.7 mm, Gopalpur – 2.4 mm and Jharsuguda – 0.2 mm of rainfall. Remnants of the system also gave 0.6 mm of rain in Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. Our weathermen inform us that the remnants of the system will continue to bring some light rain in Odisha but the intensity will decrease in the next 24 hours.
Meanwhile, weather in Northeast India has been rainy for the last few days and heavy rain is expected to continue for at least another 48 hours. Rain is likely in the Northeast region, particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, east Assam and Meghalaya, due to a trough extending from Sub Himalayan West Bengal to Arunachal Pradesh, across Assam.
Yesterday heavy rain lashed one of the wettest cities on Earth, Cherrapunji, with approximately 230 mm of rain. On the other hand, Kailashahar in West Bengal recorded 93 mm of rain.
As the weather system has moved away, the weather in South India will be mostly dry tomorrow. Rain activity will be isolated, light and purely localized. Last 24 hours saw 13 mm of rain in Bangalore and traces of rain in Kochi.
Weather in Central India will be dry and warm due to no rain activity. Presence of a cloud cover had led to drop of maximums by about 2 to 3 degrees. But now a flow of flat westerly winds will once again lead push the day temperatures from 38⁰C to 40⁰C and above.
Delhiites today woke up to cool and cloudy morning with thundershowers and strong westerly winds gusting at around 30 kmph. The morning minimum settled at 23.5⁰C. According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, after light rain in Delhi last evening and today morning, isolated thundery activity is once again expected towards late afternoon or evening.
A Western Disturbance which is moving across Jammu and Kashmir and a circulation which formed over Rajasthan (currently lying over Haryana) is attributed for rain in Delhi during the hottest and driest month of May. In the last 24 hours, Safdurjung Observatory in Delhi recorded 0.4 mm of rain, whereas Palam station recorded 3.9 mm of rain.
Rain also occurred in Rajasthan where cities like Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Bikaner and Ganganagar received traces of rain, and Jodhpur received 1 mm of rainfall. Rain amounts in Hisar and Amritsar were 3 mm and 2 mm respectively.
“Duststorm/thundershowers could occur in Delhi, Haryana and Punjab, both today and tomorrow. While the activity could be more in Punjab and Haryana, it could be very light and isolated in the capital city. Winds will be strong of up to 40 kmph. Up in the hills, the western Disturbance will give light rain in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh as well as in Uttarakhand”, says Samar Chaudhury of Skymet Meteorology Division.
Continuous thundery activity in Delhi and adjoining states has kept the mercury levels well below the normal in the month of May. Maximum temperature in Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and most parts of Rajasthan is currently between 37⁰C to 39⁰C.
Delhi yesterday recorded a high of 38.6⁰C, whereas the morning minimum on Sunday morning settled at 23⁰C. Our weathermen tell us the maximum temperature in Delhi could record 37⁰C on Sunday and Monday. Delhi has seen maximums settling above 40⁰C only in the last week of April and the first week of May.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, here are the latest weather alerts for different parts of the country:
Weather alert for Haryana issued at 17:40 Hrs
Light to moderate dust storm and thundershowers are likely at some places over Bhiwani, Fatehabad, Jind, Mahendragarh, Rohtak, Sirsa and Sonipat districts of Haryana with strong winds ranging between 60 kmph and 110 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
Weather alert for Rajasthan issued at 15:44 Hrs
Light to moderate dust storm and thundershowers are likely over Ajmer, Alwar, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaipur, Jhunjhunu, Jodhpur, Nagaur, Pali, Sikar and Sri Ganganagar districts of Rajasthan with strong average winds of 50 kmph gusting at 80 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
Weather alert for Punjab issued at 15:35 Hrs
Light to moderate rain and thundershowers are likely over Chandigarh, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Rupnagar districts of Punjab with strong average winds of 50 kmph gusting at 80 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
Weather alert for Punjab issued at 15 Hrs
Light to moderate dust storm and thundershowers are likely over Delhi/NCR with strong winds ranging between 50 kmph and 80 kmph during the next 2 to 6 hours.
According to the latest weather update by Skymet Meteorology Division in India, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh remained the hottest states in the country as several places here experienced rise in maximum temperatures due to westerly winds. Idar remained the hottest place of the country but temperature here is expected to drop as rain is likely in Rajasthan.
| Places | State | Maximum temperature on Friday | Forecast trend for Saturday |
| Idar | Gujrat | 44°C | Drop |
| Khajuraho | Madhya Pradesh | 43.4°C | Same |
| Barmer | Rajasthan | 43.1°C | Same |
| Sultanpur | Uttar Pradesh | 43°C | Drop |
| Allahabad | Uttar Pradesh | 43°C | Drop |
| Nowgong | Madhya Pradesh | 43°C | Same |
| Banda | Madhya Pradesh | 42.6°C | Rise |
| Kota | Rajasthan | 42.4°C | Drop |
| Ahmedabad | Gujarat | 41.6°C | Drop |
| Surendranagar | Gujarat | 41.3°C | Drop |
picture courtesy- Gujarat Tourism
