Just how would be the weather during the Commonwealth Games-2010? The weather department would have liked to answer the question in much greater detail. However, with only 97 days left for the Games, it will have to “observe” and “forecast” with the help of 13 automatic weather station (AWS), against a planned 60 such stations.
According to an official from the weather department, Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR) have 13 such stations ready.
While 10 are in Delhi, the other two are in NCR. One was already functional. With 47 stations still needed, the department is lamenting lack of adequate funds.
For the time being, however, the meteorological department is hoping to make better weather prediction with the help of S-band radar, which keeps an eye on the wind patterns, installed at Palam in the capital.
Also, another S-radar at Jaipur is likely to help the department gather information about the wind patterns in Rajasthan. It is crucial to the capital because the wind pattern in the desert often affect the capital’s weather condition the most.
“Even the tremendous heat wave in the past couple of months was primarily a result of the hot winds coming from Rajasthan. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye on the wind pattern from the state,” said a weather official.
Also, the need for larger number of weather stations has been felt on account of the fact that the temperature differences in the capital tends to be higher than what is generally believed.
“Delhi is understood to be a city, but it is a very large area with different levels of greenery and other factors. We generally go by the weather status at Safdarjung, added the official.