Himachal on Friday got its first Doppler Weather Radar (DWR) installed at Kufri, Shimla for more precise area-specific weather forecasts and warnings for a particular place. The range of this radar is upto 100 kilometres in radial distance and it would observe and provide the weather data of 100 km in all directions, which would be used for forecasting purposes especially for short range forecast.

Union Minister for Earth Sciences, Health and Family Welfare and Science and Technology Dr. Harsh Vardhan virtually inaugurated the DWR installed at Kufri and another at Mukteshwar, Nainital in Uttarakhand on the occasion of 146th India Meteorological Department Foundation Day.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said that the  accurate weather forecast  is not only vital for the farmers to protect their crops from natural calamities but also help in tourism development as the tourists can decide about their travel plans according to the climate.

The Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur thanked the Union Minister for dedicating Radar at Kufri, Shimla.

He said that two more DWRs would be installed at Mandi and Dalhousie in Chamba district of the state. A site had already been finalized at Mandi and a site for DWR at Dalhousie would be finalized soon, he said.

The Chief Minister said that at present, the DWR installed at Kufri is on test mode for a period of two weeks and thereafter its data would be used for forecasting purposes.

He said that more précised area specific weather forecast and warning would be issued for particular places, for the weather phenomenon like thunderstorm, lighting, hailstorm, heavy rainfall or snowfall, gusty winds etc. The DWR would obtain a measure of water content in the cloud and it would give the base and height of the cloud including area of the particular cloud cell and movement and direction of the clouds, he added.

He said that this would help the horticulturists and farmers of the state by providing them accurate information regarding weather.

The Chief Minister further said that DWR Kufri would run round the clock and it is fully automatic and computerized programme based. It would transmit the data in various digital formats and picture form, he added.