2021 was fifth warmest in India since 1901: IMD

New Delhi, January 14

Year 2021 was the fifth warmest year in India since 1901 with the country recording its annual mean air temperature at 0.44 degree Celsius above normal, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said today.

The country also reported hundreds of deaths due to extreme weather events such as floods, cyclonic storms, heavy rain, landslides and lightning among others during the year, it said.

“2021 was the fifth warmest year after 2016, 2009, 2017 and 2010 since 1901,” the IMD’s annual climate statement, 2021, stated.

The warm temperature during winter and post-monsoon season mainly contributed to this. The 2021 annual rainfall over the country as a whole was 105 per cent of its LPA based on the 1961-2010 period. The southwest monsoon season rainfall over the country as a whole was 99 per cent of its LPA.

During 2021, five tropical cyclones formed over north Indian Ocean with three forming over the Bay of Bengal and two over the Arabian Sea. In addition to these, extreme weather events like extremely heavy rainfall leading to floods, landslides, lightning, thunderstorms, droughts etc were also experienced in various parts of the country. —