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New-age weathermen keep citizens updated on social media
These weather watchers, with their timely updates on social media platforms, have earned a large following; most of them are driven by passion and have put modern technologies to good effect
Heavy traffic seen on Eastern Express highway amidst heavy rain near Chembur on Thursday.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini
The monsoon has covered the entire country and the vagaries of weather have always been a puzzle to the layman. While updates from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) are still relied upon by most citizens, the trend is gradually shifting towards independent weather enthusiasts who provide timely updates on social media.
For most Mumbai residents, the go-to accounts on X are ‘Mumbai Nowcast’ by Shivam Khandelwal and ‘Mumbai Rains’ by Rushikesh Agre. For almost half a decade, these two weather-watchers in their 20s, have been keeping Mumbaikars informed “on the go” with timely updates.
On X, Mumbai Rains has over 55,000 followers while Mumbai Nowcast is followed by at least 35,300 users. Some of their followers include Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray and BJP MLA Nitesh Rane.
Mr. Khandelwal, 27, says he has been curious about rains since childhood, “The area where we resided earlier was prone to waterlogging. As I was growing up, I would observe clouds and predict rains. With the advent of Internet and other technologies, about seven years ago, I started studying weather maps posted by the IMD.”
His passion soon made him popular among friends and family, who would want to know if they should carry an umbrella or not. Four years ago, he started posting weather updates on X and has been gaining popularity. Now, Mumbaikars are the ones asking him if they should carry an umbrella or not.
“The IMD had warned of very heavy rainfall and issued a red alert in Mumbai for July 17. But the sun was bright and people were sweating,” Rahul Joshi, a follower of these accounts, told The Hindu.
Mr. Khandelwal explained: “There is a very thin line between red alerts and sunshine. It has to do with the vortex. Providing regular ‘nowcasts’ will help resolve this.” The IMD had revised the alert to yellow for July 17, he added.
“My predictions are 90% accurate. In the last two to three years, the monsoon has become more unpredictable,” said Mr. Khandelwal, who has chosen real estate as his career path. His other pastimes are singing and playing piano. On the other hand, Mr. Agre is a final-year law student.
During monsoon, both accounts provide details such as wind speed, amount of rainfall, specific geography and duration of rain. Updates in the form of nowcasts also keep flowing in. During summers and winters, the posts are largely on likely temperatures for each day, week, etc.
Occasionally, they provide weather information for areas far beyond Mumbai as well. For example, on July 15, information on cloudburst at Umarpada, Surat was shared by Mr. Agre on his Mumbai Rains handle. While Mr. Khandelwal is a self-taught weatherman, Mr. Agre has finished an online course on Meteorology from Harvard University.
Both say providing weather updates gives them a sense of satisfaction and are in no mood to discontinue their vocation any time soon. On the contrary, they want to expand to a larger audience.
Love for weather
More than 2,000 km from Mumbai’s concrete jungle, in Srinagar’s Nawakadal area lives Faizan Arif, 23. He has become the weatherman of choice for those planning treks or weekend holidays in and around the city. Mr. Faizan, son of a pharmacist, says he was fascinated by the weather even when growing up. Seven years on, with the advent of smartphones and Internet, he has started weather bulletins on social media platforms like X, Instagram, Telegram etc. He too has managed quite a following on these platforms.
“I have WhatsApp groups for officials, professionals and journalists too. From Divisional Commissioners to Deputy Commissioners, I provide weather forecasts for all. I spend three hours to arrive at conclusions after meticulously observing weather models. I learned and gained experience over time,” Mr. Faizan told The Hindu.
Even former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference (NC) vice-president Omar Abdullah tweets his predictions, which, on many occasions, have been said to be more accurate than IMD bulletins.
“There were occasions, especially during the last winter, when snow was elusive for a period. The MeT department would predict snowfall and my forecast would be rain. It was a narrow window to judge. I was sure it would only be rain given the temperature band, and more often that not, I was proved right,” Mr. Faizan, who is pursuing his Masters in Physics from Amity University, Lucknow, said.
Initially, Mr. Faizan would borrow money from his family to purchase data from different online satellite weather models. “I monitor 10-12 weather models, especially those models with reliable and offer fast satellite data. There are a few models in the United States, China, France, etc., that help me reach conclusions more accurately. It’s a science and my predictions are purely technology based and could fail at times,” Mr. Faizan admits.
He says the trick is to understand how several models process huge amounts of satellite data through supercomputers and apply Physics equations to it. “Global warming and climate change are making independent weather forecasters more relevant. However, the fact is that we do it out of passion. India has huge scope to invest in more research and human resources in this area. We are yet to create a weather model that can compete with many global models in terms of reliability,” rued Mr. Faizan.
The independent weather forecaster has a grim forecast for Kashmir, which has witnessed less snowfall, less rainfall and rise in day temperatures already this year. “Kashmir is witnessing erratic weather. January saw a rainfall deficit of 91%. While the rest of the country saw surplus rainfall of 9% during monsoon, Kashmir again saw 60% deficit rainfall in June-July. The country’s mainland monsoon and Kashmir have inverse relations in terms of rainfall, a pattern being observed for many years. If there is surplus rainfall in the mainland, Kashmir will get less and vice versa,” he warned.
He is also worried about fast-receding glaciers in the Valley and an unusual dip in water levels in the Valley’s rivers much earlier this year.
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