Skymet Weather Services

Skymet Weather Services is a privately held Indian weather forecasting and meteorological information company founded by Jatin Singh in 2003 and headquartered in Noida. The company emerged as an early private-sector provider of weather forecasts and weather graphics to Indian media, helping broaden access to commercially produced meteorological information beyond government forecasting institutions. It supplied weather content to a wide range of Indian news organizations, including Zee News, Aaj Tak, Sahara Samay, Mint, Times Now, ABP, and The Hindu. The company’s work extends beyond media presentation. Skymet provides weather intelligence to organizations in sectors whose operations are affected by atmospheric conditions, including insurance, electric power, infrastructure, agriculture, renewable energy, and marine activity. Its services include weather information, forecasting, climate-related decision support, and specialized forecasts for wind and solar projects. The company has described the use of meso-scale and micro-scale numerical weather prediction models for renewable-energy forecasting. These services can support operational planning, resource assessment, risk management, and decisions involving weather-sensitive assets. Agriculture has been another important area of activity. Skymet has worked with insurance companies and agricultural stakeholders and has collaborated with nongovernmental organizations on initiatives intended to improve the sustainability and resilience of farmers in remote blocks across several Indian states. Its agricultural role reflects the importance of monsoon timing and rainfall variability to Indian farming, as well as the value of localized weather information for crop and livelihood decisions. Skymet also developed consumer-facing digital products. It launched a weather website offering free information to individual users and introduced Android and iOS applications. The company’s mobile application was described as an early India-made weather application to provide information in multiple regional languages, distinguishing it from many English-focused or internationally developed weather applications available in India. The company gained wider public attention through its monsoon forecasts. It reported forecasts for the Indian monsoon in 2012, 2013, and 2014 before the India Meteorological Department released its corresponding forecasts, according to the referenced account. Its public positioning as an alternative forecasting voice also brought criticism from the IMD’s then director general, L. S. Rathore, during a period of disagreement over the interpretation and communication of monsoon predictions. Skymet’s forecast of a normal monsoon in 2015 did not match the eventual below-normal outcome, and a similar criticism was associated with its 2019 forecast performance. Skymet’s activities combine meteorological modelling, data interpretation, media communication, and sector-specific decision support. The company is therefore positioned less as a conventional consumer weather-app brand than as a specialist weather-services provider with a public information arm. Its customers and use cases span national media, utilities, renewable-energy operators, insurers, agricultural programs, infrastructure companies, and marine businesses.

Skymet Weather Services was founded in India in 2003 by Jatin Singh. Its initial significance came from entering a field traditionally dominated in public communications by government institutions. Skymet became the first private-sector entity identified in the reference material as providing weather forecasts and weather graphics to Indian media. This gave newspapers and television channels access to commercially produced weather information for news programming and public communication. The company developed a broad media presence, serving organizations including Zee News, Aaj Tak, Sahara Samay, Mint, Times Now, ABP, and The Hindu. Its media work established weather forecasting as a branded information service while also creating a public platform for Skymet's own monsoon assessments. The company later reported forecasts for the Indian monsoon in 2012, 2013, and 2014 before the India Meteorological Department released its forecasts. This contributed to its profile as an independent private forecasting voice. Skymet subsequently expanded its customer base beyond media. Its clients and target sectors included infrastructure, power, insurance, agriculture, renewable energy, and marine operations. The company supplied weather information to organizations such as Reliance Infrastructure, Thomson Reuters, and North Delhi Power, according to the referenced account. It also worked with major insurance companies and developed weather-related services for agricultural and energy users. For renewable-energy businesses, it provided wind and solar forecasts using meso-scale and micro-scale numerical weather prediction. It also developed software tools intended to support weather- and climate-related operational decisions. Agricultural work became an important part of this expansion. Skymet worked with nongovernmental organizations on programs intended to support farmers in remote blocks across several Indian states. Such work addressed the practical importance of local weather information in an economy where agricultural production is strongly affected by rainfall and monsoon behavior. The company also served marine-weather requirements, extending its forecasting activity to another sector exposed to changing atmospheric and ocean conditions. Skymet created consumer-facing channels alongside its enterprise work. It launched a weather website offering free information to general users and introduced applications for Android and Apple's iOS platform. The mobile service was described as an early Indian-made weather application offering weather information in multiple regional languages. This broadened the company's role from supplying data and graphics to institutions to communicating forecasts directly to the public. The company's prominence also brought criticism. In 2013, L. S. Rathore, then director general of the India Meteorological Department, criticized Skymet's public challenge to the established forecasting institution and urged greater maturity in its predictions. Skymet's forecast of a normal monsoon in 2015 failed to match the eventual below-normal result, and the reference material records a comparable forecasting failure in 2019. These episodes illustrate both the visibility and the risks associated with public seasonal forecasting. Skymet's documented development is therefore a progression from private media weather content to a diversified meteorological-services business. Its portfolio combines broadcast and digital communication, monsoon analysis, agricultural and insurance intelligence, renewable-energy forecasting, infrastructure and power-sector services, marine weather, and decision-support software. The available material does not establish a later ownership change, public listing, or corporate parent.

• 2019

  Further forecast-performance criticism

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  The reference material records another instance in which Skymet's monsoon forecast did not match the eventual result.

• 2015

  Normal-monsoon forecast does not match outcome

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  Skymet's prediction of a normal monsoon was not borne out when the monsoon was below normal.

• 2014

  Further early monsoon forecast

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  The company was reported to have released another Indian monsoon forecast before the IMD.

• 2013

  Monsoon forecasting dispute with the IMD

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  Skymet's independent monsoon forecasting received public criticism from IMD director general L. S. Rathore.

• 2012

  Early monsoon forecast publication

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  Skymet was reported to have issued an Indian monsoon forecast before the India Meteorological Department.

• 2003

  Skymet is founded

  [1]Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org

  Jatin Singh founded Skymet Weather Services in India, and the company began providing private-sector weather forecasts and graphics to Indian media.

A private Indian meteorological-services provider combining forecasting, weather communication, numerical weather prediction, and sector-specific decision support. Skymet positions itself across both enterprise and consumer applications, with particular relevance to monsoon-sensitive agriculture, media, insurance, power, infrastructure, renewable energy, and marine operations.

• Media services · 2003

  Media weather forecasts and graphics

  Skymet supplies weather forecasts and graphical weather content to Indian television, newspaper, and digital media organizations. This was the company's original private-sector service and remains central to its public-facing role.

• Seasonal forecasting

  Monsoon forecasting

  The company produces assessments of the Indian monsoon, a highly consequential forecast category for agriculture, water management, insurance, infrastructure, and public communication.

• Agricultural services

  Agricultural weather intelligence

  Skymet provides weather information relevant to agriculture and insurance and has worked with NGOs on initiatives supporting farmers in remote areas of several Indian states.

• Renewable-energy forecasting

  Wind and solar forecasting

  Skymet provides wind and solar forecasts for renewable-energy companies, using meso-scale and micro-scale numerical weather prediction to support weather-sensitive energy operations.

• Consumer digital products

  Consumer weather website and mobile applications

  The company offers weather information directly to consumers through a free website and Android and iOS applications. The mobile service was described as an early Indian-made weather app with support for multiple regional languages.

• Marine services

  Marine weather forecasting

  Skymet provides weather forecast information for marine-related business needs, extending its services to operations affected by coastal and offshore conditions.

• Decision-support software

  Weather and climate decision-support software

  The company has developed software tools intended to help organizations use weather and climate information in operational and planning decisions.

• 2003

  Enter the private Indian media-weather marketStrategy

  Background

  Weather information distributed through Indian media was largely associated with public forecasting institutions.

  Action taken

  Skymet began supplying privately produced forecasts and weather graphics to media organizations.

  Aftermath

  The move established Skymet as an early private-sector weather-information provider and created the foundation for later sector expansion.

  Source

• Launch consumer digital weather servicesProduct launch

  Background

  Weather applications and online services were becoming important channels for direct public access to forecasts.

  Action taken

  Skymet launched a free weather website and Android and iOS applications, including regional-language information.

  Aftermath

  The company extended its reach from institutional and media clients to individual users.

  Source

• Expand into sector-specific forecastingStrategy

  Background

  Weather variability creates operational and financial risks across agriculture, insurance, power, infrastructure, renewable energy, and marine activity.

  Action taken

  Skymet developed specialized services including agricultural information, insurance support, wind and solar forecasting, marine forecasts, and weather-climate decision tools.

  Aftermath

  The company evolved from a media-weather supplier into a diversified commercial meteorological-services provider.

  Source

1. 1Skymet Weather Servicesen.wikipedia.org