CLOUDBURST INCIDENCES IN VARIOUS PARTS OF INDIA

 

Latest Context

Over the past two months, cloudburst incidences are taking place in various parts of the country that are having devastating impacts on the well-being of the people.

Cloudburst 

• Meaning: A cloudburst is a sudden rainfall that can be quite unexpected, very abrupt, accompanied by hail and thunder. Due to the formation of a low-pressure area on the top of a mountain, it usually occurs in high-altitude areas. In other words, it is a short-duration, intense rainfall event over a small area.

• Reasons of Cloudburst 

• The low-pressure zone attracts clouds to the top of the mountain with great force. When they hit the peak, the moisture content is released in the form of rain.

• Cumulonimbus Clouds It is a dense towering vertical cloud, typically forming from water vapor condensing in the lower troposphere that builds upward carried by powerful buoyant air currents.

  In some cloudbursts, up to 5 inches (almost 13 centimetres) of rain can fall in an hour, often in the form of extremely large droplets. All heavy rains are not necessarily cloudbursts.
• Several studies show that Climate Change will increase the frequency and intensity of Cloudbursts.
• Cumulonimbus Clouds are mainly involved in its occurrence.
• Vulnerable Regions:  The Western Ghats, the northeastern hill States of India (due to terrain and elevation), and the Himalayas. In general, it takes place in mountainous regions due to orography but it also takes place in plains too.
• Impacts: A cloudburst can be quite dangerous, especially if it lasts for several hours.
• Flooding is common with cloudbursts that sweep away people, animals and land on its way.
• Cloudburst-triggers debris flow and flash flood
• The economic impact due to the cloudburst calamity was tremendous in the forms of household affected, loss of human and animal life, building loss, forest loss, loss of existing crops including fruits, loss of arable land, and loss of bridges
• Other impacts are landslides, mudflows, and land caving.

• Prediction of Cloudbursts

• It is very difficult to predict cloud bursts due to their very small scale in space and time
• To monitor the cloud burst, there is a need to have a dense radar network over the cloud burst-prone areas.

 

 

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