Yellow Alert issued by IMD in North India

[GS Paper 1 – Physical Geography]

Context – Yellow alert issued in Rudraprayag. The India Meteorological Department has issued a forecast of lightning, heavy rain with winds in Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh.

Yellow weather warning indicates severely bad weather spanning across several days.

Key Developments

• Rudraprayag district administration has issued a yellow alert for the ongoing Kedarnath Yatra in view of the severe weather conditions.

• The Char Dham Yatra to the four pilgrimage shrines in Uttarakhand commenced on May 3 with the opening of the Gangotri and Yamunotri temples.

About IMD

• It was formed in 1875 and functions under the Ministry of Earth sciences of the Government of India.

• It is the principal forum that looks after meteorological observations, seismology, and weather forecasting.

• The Indian Meteorological Department is also one of the six Regional Specialized Meteorological Centers of the World Meteorological Organization.

• It is headquartered in New Delhi. The IMD uses color-coded warning systems to alert people ahead of potential weather hazards.

Color-Coded Warning System

• The Color-code Warning System is used in the weather warning by IMD in India to estimate the severity of expected weather phenomena.

• These color-coded alerts are universal in nature and are also issued during various natural weather calamities including floods, torrential rainfall etc.

• The IMD uses 4 color-codes for issuing warnings. They are –

1. Green (good conditions) – No advisory is issued.

2. Yellow (aware warning) – Yellow indicates severely bad weather spanning several days. It also suggests that the weather could change for the worse, causing disruption in day-to-day activities.

3. Orange/Amber (Be prepared) – The orange alert is issued as a warning of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and rail closures, and interruption of power supply.

4. Red (Take Action) – When the extremely bad weather conditions are certainly going to disrupt travel and power and have a significant risk to life, a red alert is issued.

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