The year that went by was the sixth warmest on record since nationwide records commenced, and also saw over 1,400 deaths due to high-impact weather events, India Meteorological Department (IMD) estimates. The annual mean surface air temperatures — averaged across the country — was 0.41 degree Celsius above average (1981-2010 period). However, this was substantially lower than the 0.72 degree Celsius warming recorded in 2016, which was highest ever in the country, said the IMD in the 'Statement on Climate of India during 2018'. Interestingly, in 2016, high-impact weather events had claimed close to 1,600 lives in the country.
This year, each region of the country witnessed a high-impact weather event — floods, cyclonic storms, heavy rainfall and intense dust storms —that claimed lives, the IMD's report shows. IMD said that flood and heavy rain related incidents reportedly claimed over 800 lives in the northern, northeastern, central and southern regions of the country. The most severe event was the flood in Kerala, which claimed 223 lives. However, official sources had themselves stated that nearly 500 people had died in these floods. The Kerala floods were incidentally triggered by extreme rainfall events in the hilly districts of the state. Floods also claimed 158 lives in Uttar Pradesh, 139 in Maharashtra and 116 in west Bengal. Among all states, UP was battered the most by weather events and the state recorded nearly 600 deaths due to floods, thunderstorms, dust storms, lighting and cold waves. While the country witnesses floods each year, dust-storms of severe intensity in Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh were an unusual occurrence in 2018. In UP alone, dust storms claimed 92 lives and Rajasthan claimed 68 lives between April and May.
To add to the extreme rain and rain-triggered flood events, there were three cyclonic storms that wreaked havoc in Tamil Nadu and Odisha. In October, Titli made landfall on the coast of Odisha and it claimed over 70 lives in coastal districts. In November, severe cyclone storm Gaja claimed over 40 lives in Tamil Nadu and late in December, cyclone storm Phethai impacted Andhra Pradesh.
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