Kolkata to soon avail of short-term rain forecasts

In a bid to help people plan out their daily activities in sync with the weather, the regional Met Office here has installed an advanced US software that will provide rain forecasts every two to three hours.

The "Warning Decision Support System - Integrated Information" algorithm, being tested by the regional meteorological office in Alipore here, will cull out cloud and wind data via radar and provide predictions on cloud cover and rainfall.

"The system was recently installed. After the verification is completed, we will upload the data on the website. It is meant for Kolkata and the suburbs," an official at the Met Office told IANS on Friday.

Developed by National Severe Storms Laboratory and the Cooperative Institute for Mesoscale Meteorological Studies at the University of Oklahoma, the sophisticated tool would enable rainfall forecast in the form of ranges (such as 1 mm to 10 mm), and its location and duration.