Friday, October 11, 2024

Why so much rain? This is what happened « 3B Meteo

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Why so much rain? This is what happened « 3B Meteo
Heavy rains in Nepal, source NOAA

More than 100 dead in Nepal due to severe floods, many of them missing. But why did it rain so heavy? In Kathmandu, 250 mm of rain fell in three days. This is a very large amount compared to the daily average, even in the wettest period, and could represent about half or more of the total amount of rainfall expected for an entire month during the peak of the monsoon between July and August. These meteorological events are caused by the infrequent encounter between a monsoon cyclone and a low pressure area. As the cyclone reached low pressure over Uttar Pradesh, the two systems merged.

This melting pushed large amounts of moisture from the Arabian Sea into the continent. One can compare this phenomenon to the Fujiwara effect, although not in its classical form. Instead of rotating around a common center, the two systems merged, making the entire atmospheric system stronger.

At the end of September, although the monsoon is in its waning phase, it is still active. Over the past week, unusual rainfall has been recorded in northeastern India, Gujarat, western Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal as well.

As it moved towards the Himalayas, the system encountered mountainsThis pushed the moist air to rise. This intensified the rain. The combination of these factors resulted in exceptionally heavy and long-lasting rainfall. Global climate change may have made this event more extreme. Phenomena such as tropical cyclones and low-level jets help move large amounts of water inland, promoting extreme rainfall events. This phenomenon may intensify with global warming, making heavy rainfall more frequent and intense

A high percentage of water falling from the Arabian Sea
A high percentage of water falling from the Arabian Sea

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