2024 · GS Paper 1 · Q6 · 10 marks
What is the phenomenon of 'cloudbursts'? Explain.
In short
A cloudburst is an extreme, localised downpour of 100 mm or more in an hour, released when strong updrafts in an orographically lifted cumulonimbus cloud suddenly collapse. It turns deadly in Himalayan valleys, as the Kedarnath disaster of June 2013 showed.
Model answer
Ghissu Editorial · Verified 4 Oct 2026 · 283 words
Rapid lifting
Moist monsoon winds rise up steep slopes, cool adiabatically and build deep cumulonimbus clouds.
Sudden release
Strong updrafts hold raindrops aloft so they collide and grow, until the updraft weakens and the whole load falls at once, as if the cloud had burst.
Trigger interactions
A meeting of the monsoon and a western disturbance added lift and moisture in the Kedarnath disaster of June 2013.
Himalayan hotspot
Steep slopes and narrow valleys turn bursts into flash floods and debris flows, as at Leh (2010), Amarnath (2022) and Himachal Pradesh (2023).
Hard to forecast
A cell a few kilometres wide forms within an hour, below most models' resolution, so warnings are short.
Plains too
Mumbai's Santacruz received 944 mm in 24 hours on 26 July 2005, a cloudburst-type deluge on flat land.
Warming link
Air holds about 7% more moisture per 1°C of warming (the Clausius-Clapeyron relation), so intense bursts are becoming more frequent.
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Question from the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) Examination 2024 paper. Answer written by Ghissu's engine and checked against our editorial standards. Found an error? Tell us and we correct it within 48 hours.