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Cloudburst
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Cloudburst
A cloudburst is a large amount of precipitation in a very short period of time, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder. Cloudbursts can dump enormous amounts of water in less than 5 minutes, for example 25 mm of precipitation falling on one square kilometre corresponds to 25,000 metric tons of water, able to fill more than ten olympic swimming pools (1 inch corresponds to 72,300 short tons per square mile, or around 26 olympic swimming pools). This readily generates flood conditions.
However, cloudbursts are infrequent as they occur only via orographic lift or occasionally when a warm air parcel mixes with cooler air, resulting in sudden condensation. At times, a large amount of runoff from higher elevations is mistakenly conflated with a cloudburst. The term "cloudburst" arose from the notion that clouds were akin to water balloons and could burst, resulting in rapid precipitation. Though this idea has since been disproven, the term remains in use.
Rainfall rate equal to or greater than 100 millimetres (3.9 in) per hour is a cloudburst. However, different definitions are used, e.g. the Swedish weather service SMHI defines the corresponding Swedish term "skyfall" as 1 millimetre (0.039 in) per minute for short bursts and 50 millimetres (2.0 in) per hour for longer rainfalls. The associated convective cloud can extend up to a height of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) above the ground.
During a cloudburst, more than 20 millimetres (0.79 in) of rain may fall in a few minutes. The results of cloudbursts can be disastrous. Cloudbursts are also responsible for flash flood creation.
Rapid precipitation from cumulonimbus clouds is possible due to the Langmuir precipitation process in which large droplets can grow rapidly by coagulating with smaller droplets which fall down slowly. It is not essential that cloudbursts occur only when a cloud clashes with a solid body like a mountain, they can also occur when hot water vapor mingles into the cold resulting in sudden condensation.
While satellites are extensively useful in detecting large-scale weather systems and rainfall, the resolution of the precipitation from these satellites are usually worse than the area of cloudbursts, and hence they go undetected. Weather forecast models also face a similar challenge in simulating the clouds at a high resolution. The skillful forecasting of rainfall in hilly regions remains challenging due to the uncertainties in the interaction between the moisture convergence and the hilly terrain, the cloud microphysics, and the heating-cooling mechanisms at different atmospheric levels.
In the Indian subcontinent, a cloudburst usually occurs when a monsoon cloud drifts northwards, from the Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea across the plains, then onto the Himalayas and bursts, bringing rainfall as high as 75 millimetres per hour.
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Cloudburst
A cloudburst is a large amount of precipitation in a very short period of time, sometimes accompanied by hail and thunder. Cloudbursts can dump enormous amounts of water in less than 5 minutes, for example 25 mm of precipitation falling on one square kilometre corresponds to 25,000 metric tons of water, able to fill more than ten olympic swimming pools (1 inch corresponds to 72,300 short tons per square mile, or around 26 olympic swimming pools). This readily generates flood conditions.
However, cloudbursts are infrequent as they occur only via orographic lift or occasionally when a warm air parcel mixes with cooler air, resulting in sudden condensation. At times, a large amount of runoff from higher elevations is mistakenly conflated with a cloudburst. The term "cloudburst" arose from the notion that clouds were akin to water balloons and could burst, resulting in rapid precipitation. Though this idea has since been disproven, the term remains in use.
Rainfall rate equal to or greater than 100 millimetres (3.9 in) per hour is a cloudburst. However, different definitions are used, e.g. the Swedish weather service SMHI defines the corresponding Swedish term "skyfall" as 1 millimetre (0.039 in) per minute for short bursts and 50 millimetres (2.0 in) per hour for longer rainfalls. The associated convective cloud can extend up to a height of 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) above the ground.
During a cloudburst, more than 20 millimetres (0.79 in) of rain may fall in a few minutes. The results of cloudbursts can be disastrous. Cloudbursts are also responsible for flash flood creation.
Rapid precipitation from cumulonimbus clouds is possible due to the Langmuir precipitation process in which large droplets can grow rapidly by coagulating with smaller droplets which fall down slowly. It is not essential that cloudbursts occur only when a cloud clashes with a solid body like a mountain, they can also occur when hot water vapor mingles into the cold resulting in sudden condensation.
While satellites are extensively useful in detecting large-scale weather systems and rainfall, the resolution of the precipitation from these satellites are usually worse than the area of cloudbursts, and hence they go undetected. Weather forecast models also face a similar challenge in simulating the clouds at a high resolution. The skillful forecasting of rainfall in hilly regions remains challenging due to the uncertainties in the interaction between the moisture convergence and the hilly terrain, the cloud microphysics, and the heating-cooling mechanisms at different atmospheric levels.
In the Indian subcontinent, a cloudburst usually occurs when a monsoon cloud drifts northwards, from the Bay of Bengal or Arabian Sea across the plains, then onto the Himalayas and bursts, bringing rainfall as high as 75 millimetres per hour.
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