Cloudburst in India: Rescue operations were underway in Amarnath on the morning of July 9, 2022, after the overnight search was also continued in the lower Amarnath Cave Area where a cloudburst on July 8 had devasted camps pitched by the pilgrims. In the cloudburst, at least 15 people died and over 60 suffered injuries as the water swept away the camps pitched at the base camp at Baltal.
After the cloudburst in Amarnath, at least 15,000 people have been rescued so far as the CRPF, Border Security Force, National, and State Disaster Response Force, Indian Army, and Jammu and Kashmir Police & Shrine Board made joined efforts to speed up the evacuation process.
Read below to know about what are cloudbursts? And why natural event is becoming more common.
What are Cloudbursts?
A cloudburst refers to an extreme amount of rain that occurs in a short period. It is sometimes also accompanied by hail and thunder. As per the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), cloudburst is unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm (or 10 cm) per hour over a geographical region of approximately 20 to 30 Sq Kms. Significant amounts of rainfall such as this can result in floods.
All the events of cloudbursts involve heavy rain in a short period, however, all the instances of heavy rain in the short period are not cloudbursts of they do not fit this criterion.
What are the causes of Cloudbursts?
According to the Director-General of India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mrutunjay Mohapatra, a cloudburst is a small-scale event and it takes place over hilly areas in the Himalayas or in the Western Ghats.
He explains that when the warm monsoon winds interact with the cold winds it leads to the formation of massive clouds, which is also because of the topography or orographic factors. If a 10 cm rainfall is received at a station in an hour, the rain event has termed a cloudburst.
Jammu & Kashmir | 15 dead in the Amarnath cloud burst incident. Rescue operation continues. The foot yatra has been temporarily suspended: Indian Army officials pic.twitter.com/7N5iBpftbW
— ANI (@ANI) July 9, 2022
Cloudbursts in India: Why they occur in places like Amarnath?
As per the experts, it is difficult to predict when exactly cloudbursts occur. Because of their definition dealing with a very small area, it is extremely difficult to accurately predict and identify the cloudbursts immediately. However, cloudbursts are more likely to occur in mountainous zones mainly because of the terrain and elevation.
This is because, in hilly areas, sometimes saturated clouds ready to condense into rain cannot produce rain, because of the upward movement of the very warm current of air. Instead of falling downwards, the raindrops are carried upwards by the air current. After a point, the raindrops become too heavy for the cloud to hold on to, and they drop down together in a quick flash.
As per the study that examined the meteorological factors behind the cloudburst over the Kedarnath region, it was found that during a cloudburst, the relative humidity and the cloud cover were at the maximum level with low temperature and slow winds.
Can we predict the cloudbursts?
The cloudbursts are very difficult to predict as they are very localized events. It means that the instruments to record cloud formation and precipitation have also to be distributed across a wide area for receiving the localized information.
Even though the cloudbursts warning cannot be given in advance, the weather stations do send alerts for heavy rainfall.
Cloudbursts in India: Are they going to be more common?
Cloudbursts may increase in frequency because of a warming world. This will happen as the temperature rises, the atmosphere has the capacity to hold more moisture. While the rising temperature in the Himalayan Region and its effect on the cloudburst is still being studied by the experts, a warming Indian Ocean is certainly carrying more moisture-laden winds to the North.
Therefore cloudbursts in the hilly states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu, and Kashmir have been linked to climate change by experts. The process is, however, complex and scientific evidence on this subject is still evolving.
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