Need better equipment for more accurate weather predictions: Met. Dept.

By Kasun Warakapitiya

The Meteorology Department has declared they would be capable of making better weather predictions accurately if  Doppler radar – weather sensing equipment is available.

Responding to a question on the failure to make accurate predictions about last weekend’s heavy rains,  the Department’s Director General, Athula Karunanayake told TimesOnline that they could predict weather more accurately if they have required equipment.

However he said even with more advanced equipment they could not pin point weather situation  as the weather conditions change.

“Even though we could not predict the 426.5-millimeter rain, we predicted rains above 100 millimeters by using global weather information and downsizing it and adopting it to one of systems. Therefore, our predictions are scientific,” he said.

As Sri Lanka is a tropical country near the equator, and surrounded by the sea, satellite technology is used to gather weather and therefore technical errors could also occur, which could affect weather predictions.

Mr Karunanayake pointed out that if Sri Lanka has Doppler radar, they would get the ability to direct and reflect the radar beam to the clouds and the estimate the amount of water particles.

“With that we could get scientific evidence of the water particles in the clouds and predict the amount of rain over one and half-hours time and issue warnings for flash floods, cyclones and other conditions”, he added

The DG expressed of the need of two Doppler radars to accurately predict weather in land and sea areas. It is decided to set up one at Puttalam while the other is to be set up at pothuvil so they could cover the country and surrounding sea area (Bay of Bengal and Arabian seas.

 “Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is to donate one Doppler radar weather sensing equipment to Sri Lanka and currently the situation is at procurement level. The Japanese companies are biding for the tenders. As this is a donation we are unable to rush anything we would have wait until the Japanese carry out their procedures and set up the system,” he said.

“Currently we are planning to commission the Japanese donated doppler radar at Puttlam in the year 2026,” he added.

The DG further added that the delay in having the Doppler radar occurred due to the pandemic, economic crisis making it difficult for Japanese officials to come to Sri Lanka and discuss the matter.

Met. Department’s Director General, Athula Karunanayake