Why is North India Facing Heavy Rainfall? Explained in Detail

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From the past two days the capital city of India Especially North India is Facing Heavy Rainfall due to Monsoon trough and some disturbance which led to heavy Rainfall including  Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh causing  outrageous deluge, aghast landslides, extensive damage to highways and other infrastructure.

As per Meteorological Department stated, 10% deficiency has been seen in rainfall in the end of June, the monsoon’s spurt over the coastal and northern part of India that led to excessive rainfall all over the country on 9th July.

Meteorological department reports 3% excess over central India, 58% excessive rainfall over northwest India, 23% deficiency over peninsular India and 16% famine over east and northeast India.

A continuous flow of rain made a record over Delhi, Nangal, Chandigarh, Ropar and several places in Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh on 8th and 9th July that led to an outrageous flood. Shimla recorded 5.5 cm, Chandigarh 6.3 cm, Ambala 4.1 cm, Chamba 5.6 cm of rainfall Between 8.30am and 2.30pm on Sunday among other states.

Director general of the weather bureau, M Mohapatra stated that a heavy rainfall is seen over Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Jammu and Kashmir, North Uttarakhand, Punjab, Haryana due to some western disturbance and the monsoon and they have forecasted that there are chances of 24% excessive rainfall for the month of July. In some days, rainfall will gradually lessen over these states from Monday onwards. 

For the next 24 hours, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Northwestern plains will continue rainfall and the monsoon trough will Shift to some parts of Bihar, Indo-Gangetic plains as well. The current situation is a repercussion of western disturbance and the monsoon, and 39 deaths happened in Uttar Pradesh due to thunderbolts while raining and a continuous flow of rainfall will be seen in Northwest India.

These recent rainfalls & floods have reminded us again to show some concern towards climate change. Due to this we have to focus more to alleviate the trouble we are in so that conditions can get better in future.

Impact of climate changes has been seen over the several states in India, we can see that not just hilly areas but also plain areas are highly affected due to heavy rainfall and in Delhi Yamuna river crossed the water flow by 203.33 metre which needs evacuation in nearby area. But yes there’s no doubt that hilly areas are more damaged and prone to experience natural disasters. 

Due to global warming, some extra moisture is available in the atmosphere and hills help in stopping this moisture flow and lift it up, which causes heavy rains. In some regions of India where rains have increased due to orographic  lifting that occurs when air mass is imputed from lower elevation to a higher elevation as it moves over rising terrain, stated Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist at Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology.

Why is North India Facing Heavy Rainfall

Floods due to thunderbolts, cloudbursts and unstoppable rainfall are difficult to predict.  

“Flash floods due to cloudbursts and extreme rains are difficult to predict. We should monitor these events closely and identify areas prone to flashfloods. We will have to depend on radars in such hazardous environments to monitor and forecast these events. With a radar, the maximum lead time that we could get is about 3 hours before such an event. We should also check the land use changes and development activities that might have aggravated these flashfloods,” he added.