Cloudburst A Local Event, Difficult To Predict: Experts

India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said cloudburst is a very small-scale event and mostly occurs over hilly areas in the Himalayas or in the western ghats.

With Himachal Pradesh and Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh being hit by cloudbursts, experts on Wednesday said predicting this disaster is difficult as it is mostly a localised event and occurs in the hilly areas. If 10 centimetres rainfall is received at a station in one hour, the rain event is termed as cloudburst. This sudden discharge of large amount of water not only leads to human casualties but also loss of property. India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said cloudburst is a very small-scale event and mostly occurs over hilly areas in the Himalayas or in the western ghats. He said when warm monsoon winds interact with cold winds it leads for formation of huge clouds, which is also due to the topography or orographic factors.