The emergence of new-age weathermen in Andhra Pradesh

Young weather bloggers from the State, with their non-conventional yet engaging methods of disseminating weather forecasts, have been making their mark by giving local and hyperlocal weather forecasts fo the public

North Coastal Andhra Pradesh has been witnessing unpredictable weather changes for about a decade since the very severe cyclonic storm Hudhud in 2014. Scientists and environmentalists feel these extreme climatic events are only symptoms of climate change.

The shifts in weather patterns due to climate change have made the weather unpredictable, and the untimely rains that hit the State due to early pre-monsoon activity in peak summer this year are one such event.

Though dedicated organisations at the Central and State levels keep apprising the public about the weather activity well in advance, more frequent and region-specific forecasts have been out of reach for many, especially farmers.

However, in the past few years, the gap between the official meteorological agencies and the common people has been bridged by several self-made weathermen who disseminate weather forecasts and updates specific to time and place through various social media platforms.

The emergence of private weather bloggers started in a big way about five to six years ago when some enthusiastic weathermen from Telangana and Maharashtra started posting rainfall predictions on social media. Accurate forecasts from 24 hours to about five to six days in advance, they would raise the alarm through their Twitter accounts.

Since their predictions were mainly accurate, the positive response to the weathermen’s tweets and the number of their followers gradually increased. As the days passed, the weathermen tribe gradually increased, with youth from various regions showing interest in cloud reading and weather forecasting.

Andhra Pradesh has two youths - Vizag Weatherman, aka Sai Kiran from Gajuwaka in Visakhapatnam, and AP Weatherman, aka B. Sai Praneeth from Tirupathi, who have been actively providing weather alerts to lakhs of followers for the past few years. The updates were not just limited to rain alerts and included forecasts about extreme weather conditions, hailstorms and floods.