The annual statement of the climate in India issued by the IMD on January 4 has revealed that 2020 is the eighth warmest year the country has seen since 1901. The statement produced a detailed information of the country's weather throughout the year.
The mean temperature was marked 0.29 degrees Celsius above normal. The statement also said that 12 out of 15 warmest years are marked between the years 2006 to 2020. The five warmest years were recorded in the last decade with 2016 being the top warmest year recording temperature of 0.71 degrees Celsius higher than normal.
The amount of rainfall was above than normal the past year as well: marked at 109% of its long period average (LPA). The country's overall rainfall was above normal of its LPA based on the data from 1961 to 2020.
In 2020, five cyclones formed in the north of the Indian Ocean. These are Amphan, Nivar, Gati, Nisarga and Burevi. The most disastrous cyclone of all was Amphan which claimed 90 lives. The Nivar cyclone crossed Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, claiming nine lives. Extreme weather events like heavy rainfall, floods, landslides etc. also took the lives of 2,000 people in the country in 2020. Heavy rainfalls alone killed 600 people, while thunderstorms and lightning killed 815 pan-India. Cyclones took 115 lives in the country last year.
The high-impact events the country witnessed were heavy rainfall, floods, lightning and thunder. Specifically, Kerala district had one of the highest death rates due to the calamities. Significantly, 72 people were reported dead in the districts of Idukki and Munnar due to the landslide.