What is cloudburst? Five worst cloudbursts in India
What is a cloudburst? How does it happen? Know about the worst cloudbursts taking place in India before the cloudburst in Uttarkashi’s Dharali village.
Cloudburst causes devastation. (File Image)
After a cloudburst took place Tuesday, triggering flash floods and a massive debris slide in Uttarkashi’s Dharali village, the moot questions being asked are: What is a cloudburst? How does it happen? Confirming the incident, District Magistrate Prashant Arya said, “The village was on a higher elevation, but the area was home to commercial activities such as hotels and shops. We have yet to ascertain the losses, but preliminary reports indicate severe property damage.”
What is cloudburst?
A cloudburst is a horrific rainfall, causing an enormous amount of precipitation in a very short duration. It is generally accompanied by hail and thunder, which can create flood conditions. A cloudburst generally dumps large amounts of water in a short period and brings as much as 25 mm of precipitation, which may correspond to 25,000 metric tons per square kilometer.Â
What causes cloudburst?
An orographic lift, or a situation when a warm air parcel mixes with cooler air, resulting in sudden condensation, causes a cloudburst. The term “cloudburst” came from the notion that clouds were like water balloons and couldburst, resulting in rapid precipitation. However, this idea has since been disproven. Sometimes a large amount of runoff from higher elevations is mistakenly taken as a cloudburst.Â
Five biggest cloudbursts in India
September 28, 1908: A cloudburst in Hyderabad caused so much rainfall that the level of the Musi River increased up to 3.4 meters. About 15,000 people were killed and more than 80,000 houses were destroyed in the cloudbursts.Â
July 20, 1970: The cloudburst occurring on the southern mountain front in the Alaknanda valley between Joshimath and Chamoli was so severe that it wiped out the leftover of the 1894 Gohna lake. It also washed away a roadside settlement between Pipalkoti and Helong and a convoy of 30 buses.
July 26, 2005: The cloudburst taking place near Mumbai caused a rainfall of 950 millimetres or 37 inches, over eight to ten hours. More than 1,000 people were killed.Â
August 6, 2010: A series of cloudbursts in Leh left 1,000 people dead and more than 400 injured.Â
June 15, 2013: The cloudburst taking place in the Kedarnath and Rambara region of Rudraprayag district, Uttarakhand, left more than 1,000 people dead. It is feared that the death toll might have reached 5,000.Â
