24 Hours: The Monsoon Challenge

In 2012, Skymet started its monsoon forecast, the first high-profile private agency to do so. It was a challenge to the Indian Meteorological Department which has been forecasting the monsoon for the past 150 years and has the monopoly on all issues related to the weather and climate in India. 2015 has now become a dramatic year in India's monsoon story: in April when the long range forecast is given, the Met department predicted a bad monsoon - just 93 per cent of the average rainfall. Skymet's forecast was the exact opposite - a normal monsoon with 102 per cent average rainfall. This week on 24 Hours, we take a look at these two examples from a new world of meteorology with growing opportunities but one which is faced with the same questions and has as its biggest challenge - the monsoons, a season that is constantly testing science, causing both anxiety and uncertainty since ancient times.