![]() Scientists have also said even if heavy rainfall events don’t meet the exact criteria defined, but cause extensive damage such as flash floods and landslides in high altitude areas, they should also be considered cloudburst events. There has been a rise in short span high intensity rain occurrences (mini cloud bursts) along the west coast of India and along the foothills of Western Himalayas between 19 according to “Assessment of Climate Change over the Indian Region,” a report by the union ministry of earth sciences published last year. Overall higher water vapour availability due to climate change may have led to a rise in cloudbursts,” Rajeevan explained. IMD has no specific analysis on cloudbursts. “IMD has about 150 weather stations from where hourly rain data can be accessed. Nowcasts are predictions of the present or the very near future. To even nowcast such events, experts said, IMD may require a very dense radar network in cloudburst prone areas such as the Western Himalayas. It is very difficult to predict a cloudburst because of its very small scale in space and time. ![]() “We know that incidence of heavy rainfall events is going up, and along with that cloudburst numbers are also likely to be increasing as an impact of climate change.” ![]() He added that it was likely their numbers were increasing. Cloud efficiency can go up in many cases leading to cloudburst incidents,” said M Rajeevan, secretary, ministry of earth sciences. “When moisture availability is very high large deep clouds develop and the droplets, they form can be both big and very high in number. There has been a sharp increase in cloudburst incidents in the past few years according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), although the agency has not conducted an analysis of cloudburst incidents specifically but observed trends from media reports and data on heavy and extremely heavy rainfall events that it documents.Ī cloudburst is when 10 cm or more rainfall is recorded at one station in one hour according to IMD. This monsoon has seen a spate of cloudbursts and mini cloudbursts over the Western Himalayas and the west coast revealing the deadly, unpredictable face of monsoon rains. Vehicles trapped in flood water due to heavy rain after a cloudburst, at Mcleodganj near Dharamshala. ![]() And at least 10 cars were washed away when a flash flood triggered by a suspected cloudburst swept through Bhagsunag locality near McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh on July 12. Last week, several parts of Konkan reported what scientists termed mini-cloudbursts leading to flooding of rivers, damage to infrastructure and the death of at least 100 people. Nine people died and seven reported missing in two separate flash floods in Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh, officials of the state disaster management authority said on Wednesday. At least seven people died and many more were reported missing on Wednesday after a cloudburst caused flash floods in Jammu’s Kishtwar district. ![]()
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