IMD launching mobile application for weather forecast

File photo shows a weather forecasting laboratory at the India Metrological Department at Mausam Bhawan in New Delhi.

India Meteorology Department (IMD) is all set to enter a new field of activity. On Tuesday, the apex weather agency will launch a mobile application through which current weather observations and four-day forecasts for weather stations in the four metros — Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai can be accessed on near real time basis through mobile phones..

A team of experts at IMD have developed an application called “Indian-weather” that can be downloaded free of cost from Google Play, available on android-based smart phones and tablets.

Once downloaded, the application will enable the user to access the current weather observations along with four-day forecasts from meteorological stations in the four metros.

Speaking to

The Hindu , IMD Director General, L.S. Rathore, said more value added services like weather bulletins, alerts, and agro-meteorological advisories would be added over the coming months based on feedback from users.

Noting that location-specific weather information and forecast were already available on IMD’s website, he said the new application has been thought of to help reach a larger number of people considering there are a lot more people who have access to smart phones than to computers.

Over the next eight to 10 months, the IMD would try to not only expand the repertoire of services but also strive to cover all types of phones apart from android based smart phones, he added.

The new application will be launched by Union Minister for Science and Technology, Jaipal Reddy, on the occasion of IMD’s 138th foundation day.