IMD alerts

Subject: Geography

Context:

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a ‘Red’ alert for Mumbai for the next 24 hours owing to active weather systems leading to continuous downpour across the city and suburbs.

Concept:

• Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from Green to Red.
• Green stands for No warning: no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain.
• A Yellow alert signifies “Watch”, and authorities are advised to “Be updated” on the situation.
• An Orange warning stands for “Alert”, and authorities are expected to “Be prepared”. The forecast during an Orange warning is of heavy to very heavy rainfall.
• A Red alert stands for “Warning”, and asks authorities to “Take action”. The forecast is for extremely heavy rainfall.