Asia, Himalayan Weather

Publication Year: 1949.

Himalayan Weather. Thanks to the same informant in Poona, we have had word of two interesting surveys reported by the Statesman.

In November 1948 an RIAF meteorological expedition under the leadership of Flying Officer K. Chandra, with a medical research team directed by Major S. L. Kalra, left Srinagar for Ladakh, to study weather conditions at altitudes of 18,000 to 20,000 ft. and medical problems connected with high-altitude flying. It is pointed out that, if a satisfactory all-weather route can be found, these remote Himalayan regions will be brought into closer contact with India.

To determine whether American methods of snow surveying are applicable under Himalayan conditions, the Central Board of Irrigation, Government of India, has decided to station whole-time observers who will study rain, snow, temperature, etc., in Himalayan catchment areas. Since a reconnaissance expedition found in June 1948 that mobility would be very difficult to achieve, local men will generally be selected for the work. Already begun in the Kosi catchment, observations were expected to extend to the Ganges in 1949.