From cyclones to floods, 2019 was a year of record extreme weather events

As this year draws to a close, we take a look at the extreme weather events that hit India in 2019 and their impacts.

The year 2019 saw record extreme weather events triggered by climate change–this July was the hottest July ever recorded, the summer monsoon saw 74% more extreme rainfall events, forest fires were 113% more numerous year-on-year and seven cyclones hit the country. These extreme weather events displaced about 2.17 million people in the first six months of 2019. These figures are bound to rise as the displacements from cyclones and floods in the later half of the year are included.

With most number of deaths due to extreme weather events, India was also considered the fifth most vulnerable of 181 countries to the effects of climate change, IndiaSpend reported on December 5, 2019. As this year draws to a close, we take a look at the extreme weather events that hit India in 2019 and their impacts.

Heatwaves

More than half the population of India was gripped by an intense heatwave in the summer months of June and July 2019, killing over 200 people. The Indian government declares a heatwave when temperatures reach at least 4.5 deg-C above the “normal” temperature for an area for at least two days.

In early June 2019, when intense heatwave scorched large parts of India, some regions experienced temperatures surpassing 45 deg-Celcius (deg-C) for the better part of three weeks. On June 10, Delhi reached its hottest day on record for the month, reaching 48 deg-C, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s (WMO) State of Global Climate 2019 released on December 3, 2019.