What’s new

Every Indian airport has trained weather observers reporting conditions every 30 minutes — including whether a thunderstorm is actually happening, rain is falling, or storm clouds are visible from the field. When the airport nearest to you reports active weather, an alert appears right on the homepage. The Now page always shows the full report (65+ airports across India).

Why it matters: Radar and satellite are instruments making estimates. An airport report is a person (or calibrated sensor) at the field confirming it. When your page says “storm approaching” and the airport 8 km away reports “thunderstorm observed,” you can trust it. Airport observers also note storms before they arrive — storm clouds on the horizon, gusty winds picking up — which feeds our early warnings.

Until now, we read JPEG images of satellite data. Now we pull the raw scientific files from ISRO directly.

Why it matters: JPEGs lose precision — especially in the cloud-top temperatures that tell us whether a cloud is just puffy or actually building into a storm. Raw files mean we catch storms earlier and false-alarm less on harmless clouds.

Six forecast models, scored every day across 80 Indian cities, against real ground observations.

Why it matters: If you’re wondering whether to trust a 5-day forecast that says “no rain Saturday,” you can now see how often each model was actually right last month for your city. See Forecast Validation.

We used to analyse each weather satellite on its own — INSAT-3DS, INSAT-3DR, Himawari, Meteosat. Now we blend them into a single timeline.

Why it matters: Each satellite scans India at its own rhythm. INSAT updates every 15 minutes, Himawari every 10. By interleaving them, we get a fresh view of the clouds every 5–7 minutes instead of every 15. Storms that build up fast — the dangerous kind — get caught sooner.

Cities like Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Aurangabad, Ranchi and Jodhpur don’t have an IMD Doppler radar within the standard 250 km range. We now also use long-range scans (up to 500 km) from the next-nearest radar station to cover them.

Why it matters: Before this, in those cities “rain in the next 2 hours” was a model estimate with no radar confirmation. Now we pull in long-range radar from neighbouring stations, so several of India’s biggest cities get the same radar-based nowcasts that Pune or Mumbai already had.

Added several newly-commissioned IMD Doppler radar stations to our network.

Why it matters: If you live near one of the new stations, “rain in the next 2 hours” is now based on actual radar near you, instead of being inferred from further away. Closer radar means tighter timing on when rain will start.

Air quality used to be a small section on the homepage. It now has its own page — with the AQI breakdown by pollutant (PM2.5, PM10, NO₂, O₃), readings from real CPCB ground stations near you, and a plain-language take on what it means for your day.

Why it matters: “AQI 250” doesn’t tell you whether to skip your morning run or close the windows. The new page does — including which pollutant is driving the number and how it compares to yesterday. Visit Air.

Plugged into IMD’s new official API. The site now shows IMD’s own nowcasts for the next 3 hours, district-level warnings (17 hazard types — thunderstorm, hailstorm, heatwave and so on), 7-day text forecasts for 600+ cities, and live readings from 1,185 IMD ground weather stations across India.

Why it matters: Earlier, IMD’s nowcasts and warnings were locked inside their app — we had to write our own algorithm and approximate the rest. Now the actual yellow/orange/red warning from IMD shows on your page, with the exact hazard. And the temperature you see for your area is what the nearest IMD station physically measured, not a model estimate.

Refreshed the whole site. Bigger numbers for what matters right now (temperature, rain), smaller numbers for technical detail. Day-night theme follows your phone.

Why it matters: The old version had everything competing for attention. Now: glance at the homepage and you know the answer in two seconds. Dig deeper only if you want to.

We were already comparing global models (GFS, ECMWF, Google’s GraphCast). Now we also show IMD GFS T1534 — India’s own forecast model, run on supercomputers in Pune.

Why it matters: IMD’s model is often better-tuned for the Indian monsoon and pre-monsoon thunderstorms than the global ones. When all four agree on rain, you can stop second-guessing.

Added Himawari-9 (Japan) and Meteosat-9 (Europe) on top of ISRO’s INSAT-3DS and 3DR.

Why it matters: Each satellite sees India from a different angle. Eastern India is sharpest from Himawari, the western coast from Meteosat. More angles means we catch storms that one satellite might miss at the edge of its view.

Each day in the week view now carries small icons: rain likely, thunderstorm risk, strong winds, extreme heat.

Why it matters: Scanning the week to pick a day for outdoor work, a wedding, or a long drive? You don’t have to read hourly numbers for each day — the rough days are flagged at a glance.

You can now check forecasts for places anywhere in the world — not just India.

Why it matters: Travelling to Bangkok, Dubai or London? The 5-model comparison still works abroad. India-specific layers (IMD radar, IMD warnings, INSAT satellite) quietly switch off because they don’t cover that location — but the core “what do the global models say for the next 7 days?” is available worldwide.

Plugged in WeatherUnion — Zomato’s free network of 750+ ground weather stations across 60 Indian cities.

Why it matters: “Is it raining at my place right now?” used to be an estimate from a model. If a WeatherUnion station is near you, it’s now a yes/no from a real device measuring actual rainfall in millimetres.

The site now reads satellite imagery to find clouds growing tall fast — the signature of a building thunderstorm.

Why it matters: Radar tells you it’s raining. Satellite tells you a storm is forming. Satellite often catches a storm 30–60 minutes before radar does — useful if you’re trying to wrap up something outdoors before it hits.

For cities like Pune, Mumbai, Delhi — where one part can be pouring while another is dry — the Now page now splits the summary in two: what’s happening within a few kilometres of you, and what’s happening city-wide.

Why it matters: “Rain in Pune” doesn’t mean rain at your doorstep. Now you can tell which one applies to you.

You can now add MausamNow to your home screen and it runs like a normal app — no app store, no install size, no tracking.

Why it matters: Saves a tap every time you check the weather. On iPhone: Share → Add to Home Screen. On Android: menu → Add to Home Screen.

Launched with side-by-side comparison from four global forecast models — GFS, ECMWF, GraphCast, ICON — alongside IMD’s MausamGram and MOSDAC.

Why it matters: No single weather model is always right. When 4 of them agree, you can plan. When they disagree, you at least know to keep checking. That’s the whole point.