Met centre to come up at Noida airport, plug weather mapping gap in NCR

Noida: Despite being Delhi’s neighbours, and now supporting a population of more than 70 lakh people, Noida and Ghaziabad have never had full-fldeged weather stations. That is now finally going to change.

With Noida International Airport preparing for commercial operations, India Meteorological Department (IMD) has approved a dedicated weather monitoring station there — a move expected to have collateral benefits for the two cities by sharpening local forecasting, improve early warning systems and give residents more precise weather data.

A senior scientist at IMD’s Lucknow centre confirmed that the station for the airport has been cleared and staffing has begun. “IMD has posted a couple of officials to manage the monitoring station. Before flight operations begin, the weather office will start functioning,” he said.

The immediate trigger is aviation. The airport, which received its aerodrome licence from Directorate General of Civil Aviation in March 2026 for “all-weather operations”, will need round-the-clock weather inputs for safe aircraft movement, especially during poor visibility that is common during winter months in NCR. Its runway has instrument landing system facilities at both ends, allowing approaches from either direction depending on wind conditions.

But the impact will go beyond flights. Officials said the new centre will strengthen understanding of hyperlocal weather in Noida and nearby Ghaziabad, where district-level variation often gets lost in broader NCR forecasts.

Until now, Noida has been handled by IMD’s Delhi-NCR urban meteorological services rather than the Lucknow centre, despite being UP’s commercial hub. An IMD official said daily temperatures for Noida and Ghaziabad do not figure in the Lucknow centre’s daily bulletin. “The automatic weather station in Noida records the temperature, but the data is not fed to the central system,” the official added.

The gap has been felt by local authorities too. A district disaster management official said they currently depend on IMD nowcasts for western UP, which may not always capture district-specific shifts. “Weather conditions can vary sharply from one district to another. A local system will help with more timely and precise alerts,” the official said.