The deluge caused in Bhubaneswar on Monday afternoon was the result of a cloudburst, according to the Centre for Environment and Climate (CEC) at the SOA University here.
The intensity of rainfall between 3 pm and 3.50 pm was measured at 96 mm per hour as per the rainfall data and temp-humidity data recorded at the CEC, its director Dr SC Sahu said.Extremely heavy precipitation of about 100 mm per hour over a small area is termed as ‘cloudburst ‘ but it generally occurs in mountainous and desert regions though it is often experienced over continental landmasses due to strong vertical velocity with continuous flow of moisture from nearby water bodies, he said.“The rainfall to come down in a steady shower caused excessive condensation in the clouds as new drops form and old drops are retracted back into it by the updraft,†he said.
Dr Sahu said that while rainfall was recorded over an hour starting from 3 pm in Bhubaneswar, nearby surrounding places like Khordha, Cuttack, Begunia and Puri did not report such high-intensity precipitation.The rainfall recorded at the CEC observatory during the 24 hours on that day was 109.2 mm whereas 80 mm of rainfall was recorded between 3 pm and 3.50 pm.
He said towering cumulus clouds were being formed over city during the past 10 days due to rising temperature and availability of plenty of moisture by flow of monsoon wind, but sporadic low-intensity rainfall recorded in spells though temperature was more than 34-35 degrees Celsius.
The low pressure system which formed over the north-east Bay of Bengal on September 20 was positioned over north-west Bay of Bengal.
