‘Monsoon mayhem in India – Early this year!’
Floodwaters engulf India
In what is being described as the ‘Himalayan Tsunami’, north-western India has drowned due to floodwaters as the country experiences one of its worst floods in history.
Weather History – What led to the floods?
On June 15, western trough ’10′ was leaving the northern areas of Pakistan while on the same day a low pressure system was over central areas of India. The western trough shifted its focus towards the northern areas of India on June 16 as it lied over Jammu & Kashmir and adjoining Pakistan. On June 16, it caused the west moving low pressure system to curve in a NNE direction, on June 17 the low pressure moved towards North-eastern Rajasthan and adjoining Uttar Pradesh as it started interacting with the western winds.
The Himalayan Tsunami rages on!
Temple hit by gushing waters
Monsoon has come many weeks early this year in India and heavier than usual in this part of India. On June 17, the Uttarakhand state received 340 mm (13 inches) of rain which is 375% above normal as compared to the normal 65.9 mm (2 inches). Heavy downpour lasted till four days in Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and adjoining northern states. Following are the key features of 2013 North India Floods;
- 500 people dead while 60, 000 stranded as per International Media.
- Wettest rain in five decades.
- Worst floods in NW India in 60 years.
- 375% above normal rain in Uttarakhand.
- National capital New Delhi hit hard.
Nepal has witnessed landslides and floods as 39 people have died due to similar conditions in the country. In short the same weather system has killed 14 people in Pakistan, 500 in India and 39 in Nepal.
Lahore experienced it days ago
Before the Himalayan Tsunami, a short burst of severe weather was observed in North-eastern areas of Punjab especially the provincial capital Lahore where 102 mm (4 inches) of rain fell between June 14 and June 15, predicted by PWP in its update on June 9. The burst of heavy rain killed 14 people in the city. Lahore’s monthly average rain for June is 36.3 mm (1 inches) but this June a total of 153 mm was observed out of which 102 mm fell in few hours.
