Lalith Chandrapala
Department of Meteorology
Sri Lanka

SRI LANKA

Land Area- 65,525 Sq.km

Length of coast line – 1, 760 km

Topography – Highland massif

surrounded by vast area of lowlands
Population- 19.6 Million

Pop. Density – 309 per Sq.km
Average Rainfall – 1,815 mm(ranges between 900 and 5,000+)

Average Temperature (lowlands)–27.5C

30 %

25 %

15 %

30 %

Variability of Annual Rainfall of Sri Lanka (1880-2016)
800

600

400

20001880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

-200-400-600

YEAR TO YEAR VARIABILITY OF RAINFALL IS HIGH2000

2010

EXTREME RAINFALL EVENTS ARE BECOMING MORE AND MORE FREQUENT!
Annual Maximum 24H Rainfall
COLOMBO

493.7 mm
4th June 1992

600500440.2 mm
10th November 2010

40030020010001870

1880

1890

19001910

1920

1930194019501960

1970

1980

1990

2000

2010

ANNUAL MAXIMUM 24H RAINFALL SERIES SHOW HIGHER
MAXIMA IN THE RECENT PERIODRCP 4.5

CLIMATE CHANGESCENARIOS FOR SRI
LANKA USING CMIP5DATA SHOWA SIGNIFICANT
INCREASE OF RAINFALL
IN THE WET ZONE OF SRILANKA.

RCP 8.5

RAINFALL IN SRI LANKA DURING THE YEAR 2016 WAS HIGHLY ERRATIC!
COLOMBO2016
SPELL OF EXTREMELY HEAVYRAIN IN MID-MAY FOLLOWED BY5-MONTH LONG DRY SPELLUNTIL LATE OCTOBERPOLONNARUWA

RAINFALL IN 2016
NORMAL RAINFALL (81-10)

Movement of the weather system, which later developed into tropical cyclone ROANU

Total Rainfall, 13-18 May 2016

AS PER THE POSTDISASTER NEEDSASSESSMENT (PDNA)CONDUCTED BYGOSL WITH UN AND
THE WB, TOTALDAMAGES AND
LOSSES IN EXCESS OF
US $ 570 million.
FLOODS

SPELL OF EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN LASTING 6 DAYSSOME REGIONS RECEIVING OVER 900 MM

This severe catastrophe was poorly managed.

However, the failure resulted in identifying the need for an
Integrated Flood Management System for Sri Lanka

Work underway to develop a Prototype Integrated Flood andWater Management System for the Kelani river basin by an interagency working group.

Agencies involved are,

Irrigation Department , Sri Lanka Land Reclamation and Dev. Corp (SLLRDC),
Department of Meteorology, Disaster Management Centre, National Water
Supply & Drainage Board, Water Resources Board, Colombo MunicipalCouncil

DROUGHT IN 2016
Over 208,000 persons from 51,561 families,
mainly in the dry zone of Sri Lanka wereaffected.
Drinking Water had to be provided by theGOSL. Over 50 % of the Paddy crop wasdamaged.
DROUGHTMETEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATION NETWORK Synoptic Meteorological Stations -22 nos.
3 Hourly Manual Observations
 Agrometeorological Stations – 35 nos.
Twice daily Manual Observations
 Rain-gauge Stations – 400 nos.
Once daily Manual Observations


Automatic Weather Stations – 38 nos.
10 Minute automatic observations

02 nos. Doppler Weather Radars (by2019/20) – JICA assistanceAlready the World Bank has undertakena project to strengthen the capacity ofthe Department of Meteorology, theDepartment of Irrigation, and theDisaster Management Centre to meettheir shared obligations to minimize
loss of life, livelihoods, and property due
to hydro-meteorological hazards in SriLanka.

The first phase of the project ispresently underway and the major focusof the Second phase due to start in late2017 is on improving the services of theDepartment of Meteorology and theHydrology Division of the Irrigation
Department.

Major Components in Meteorological
Upgrading Improvement of Observation
Networks, Forecasting Systems,Communication and IT Infrastructure A “DATA RESCUE” InitiativeReal-Time Data and Information
Access to relevant stakeholders
Nowcasting and Short-Range
Forecasting with availability ofgridded products