Cloudburst
A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation, sometimes with hail and thunder, which normally lasts no longer than a few minutes but is capable of creating flood conditions.
Properties
Cloudbursts descend from very high clouds, sometimes with tops above 15 kilometers. Meteorologists say the rain from a cloudburst is usually of the shower type with a fall rate equal to or greater than 100mm (3.94 inches) per hour.[1]
During a cloudburst, more than 2 cm of rain may fall in a few minutes. When there are instances of cloudbursts, the results can be disastrous.
Rapid precipitation from cumulonimbus clouds is possible due to so called Langmuir precipitation process in which large droplets can grow rapidly by coagulating with smaller droplets which fall down slowly.
Record Cloudbursts
| Duration |
Rainfall |
Location |
Date |
| 1 minute |
1.5 inches (38.10 mm) |
Barot, India |
26 November 1970 |
| 5 minutes |
2.43 inches (61.72 mm) |
Port Bells, Panama |
29 November 1911 |
| 15 minutes |
7.8 inches (198.12 mm) |
Plumb Point, Jamaica |
12 May 1916 |
| 20 minutes |
8.1 inches (205.74 mm) |
Curtea-de-Arges, Romania |
7 July 1947 |
| 40 minutes |
9.25 inches (234.95 mm) |
Guinea, Virginia, USA |
24 August 1906 |
| 1 hour |
9.84 inches (250 mm) |
Ladakh, India |
August 5, 2010 [2] |
| 12 hours |
45.03 inches (1,144 mm) |
Foc-Foc, La Réunion |
January 8, 1966[3] |
| 24 hours |
71.85 inches (1,825 mm) |
Foc-Foc, La Réunion |
January 8, 1966[3] |
Cloudbursts in the Indian subcontinent
In the Indian subcontinent, a cloudburst usually occurs when a pregnant monsoon cloud drifts northwards, from the Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea across the plains, then onto the Himalaya and bursts, bringing rainfall as high as 75 millimeters per hour.[4]
India
- On September 28, 1908 - A Cloudburst resulted in a flood where the Musi River was swollen up to 38–45 m. About 15,000 people were killed and around 80,000 houses were destroyed along the banks of this river.[5]
- In July, 1970 — Cloudburst in the upper catchment area led to a 15 metre rise in the Alaknanda river in Uttarakhand. Entire river basin, from Hanumanchatti near the pilgrimage town of Badrinath to Haridwar was affected. An entire village was swept away.
- On August 15, 1997, 115 people were killed when a cloud burst came bustling and trail of death are all that is left behind in Chirgaon in Shimla district, Himachal Pradesh.[6]
- On August 17, 1998 — A massive landslide following heavy rain and a cloudburst at Malpa village killed 250 people including 60 Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims in Kali valley of the Kumaon division, Uttarakhand. Among the dead was Odissi dancer Protima Bedi.
- On July 16, 2003, About 40 persons were killed in flash floods caused by a cloudburst at Shilagarh in Gursa area of Kullu, Himachal Pradesh.[7]
- On July 6, 2004, At least 17 people were killed and 28 injured when three vehicles were swept into the Alaknanda river by heavy landslides triggered by a cloudburst that left nearly 5,000 pilgrims stranded near Badrinath shrine area in Chamoli district, Uttarakhand.[8]
- On 26 July 2005, A cloudburst caused approximately 950 millimetres (37 in) of rainfall in Mumbai.[9] over a span of eight to ten hours; the deluge completely paralysed India's largest city and financial centre.
- On August 16, 2007, 52 people were confirmed dead when a severe cloud burst occurred in Bhavi village in Ghanvi, Himachal Pradesh.[10]
- On August 7, 2009, 38 people were killed in a landslide resulting from a cloudburst in Nachni area near Munsiyari in Pithoragarh district of Uttarakhand.[11]
- On August 6, 2010, in Leh, a series of cloudbursts left over 1000 persons dead (updated number) and over 400 injured in the frontier Leh town of Ladakh region in Jammu and Kashmir.[12]
- On September 15, cloud burst in Almora in Uttrakhand has drowned away two villages one of them being Balta, leaving a few people alive and rest entire village dead and drowned. Almora has been declared as a town suffering from the brunt of cloudburst by authorities of Uttrakhand. Had there been a bit more swaying of clouds, town of Ranikhet must have drowned also.
- On June 9, 2011, near Jammu, a cloudbursts left 4 persons dead and over several injured in Doda-Batote highway, 135 km from Jammu.Two restaurants and many shops were washed away[13]
- On 20 July 2011, a cloudburst in upper Manali, 18 km away from Manali town in Himachal Pradesh state left 2 dead and 22 missing.[14]
- On September 15, 2011 a cloudburst was reported in the Palam area of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. The Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal-3 was flooded with water at the Arrival due to the immense downpour. Even though no lives were lost in the rain that lasted an hour was enough to enter the record books as the highest rainfall in the city recorded since 1959.
Pakistan
- On July 1, 1977, the city of Karachi was flooded when 207 millimetres (8.1 in) of rain was recorded in 24 hours.[15]
- On July 23, 2001 620 millimetres (24 in) of rainfall was recorded in 10 hours in Islamabad. It was the heaviest rainfall in 24 hours in Islamabad and at any locality in Pakistan during the past 100 years.[16][17][18][19]
- On July 23, 2001 335 millimetres (13.2 in) of rainfall was recorded in 10 hours in Rawalpindi.[18][19]
- On July 18, 2009, 245 millimetres (9.6 in) of rainfall occurred in just 4 hours in Karachi, which caused massive flooding in the metropolis city.[20]
- On July 29, 2010 a record breaking 280 millimetres (11 in) of rain was recorded in Risalpur in 24 hours.[21]
- On July 29, 2010 a record breaking 274 millimetres (10.8 in) of rain was recorded in Peshawar in 24 hours.[21]
- On August 9, 2011 176 millimetres (6.9 in) of rainfall was recorded in 3 hours in Islamabad flooded main streets.[22]
- On August 10, 2011 a record breaking 291 millimetres (11.5 in) of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours in Mithi, Sindh Pakistan.[23][24][25]
- On August 11, 2011 a record breaking 350 millimetres (14 in) of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours in Tando Ghulam Ali, Sindh Pakistan.[26]
- On September 7, 2011 a record breaking 312 millimetres (12.3 in) of rainfall was recorded in 24 hours in Diplo, Sindh Pakistan.[27]
Bangladesh
- In September, 2004 341 millimetres (13.4 in) mm of rain was recorded in Dhaka in 24 hours.[28]
- On June 11, 2007 425 millimetres (16.7 in) mm of rain fell in 24 hours in Chittagong.[28]
- On July 29, 2009 a record breaking 333 millimetres (13.1 in) of rain was recorded in Dhaka, in 24 hours, previously 326 millimetres (12.8 in) of rain was recorded on July 13, 1956.[28]
See also
References