NEW DELHI: Hours after a flash flood struck Dharali village in Uttarkashi district of Uttarakhand, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday stated that it had been regularly issuing alerts for “heavy to extremely heavy” rainfall over the region from August 3 to August 5. However, the department refrained from confirming whether the flash flood was caused by a cloudburst.
While the exact cause of the sudden deluge remains unclear, initial rainfall data from six meteorological stations in Uttarkashi district do not currently support the likelihood of a cloudburst event.
Cloudbursts are characterized by extremely intense rainfall—typically 100 mm or more per hour—confined to small areas (20-30 sq km), and usually lasting a short duration. Due to their highly localized nature and the fact that they often occur in remote, mountainous terrain, many such events go unrecorded due to limited real-time monitoring infrastructure.
In India, cloudbursts are most common during the monsoon season in orographically dominant regions such as the Himalayas, northeastern states, and the Western Ghats. Their sudden and violent nature, often linked to rapidly forming thunderstorms and complex atmospheric dynamics, makes them notoriously difficult to predict—even globally.
Despite the uncertainty around the specific trigger of the flash flood in Dharali, the IMD emphasized that it had consistently issued warnings since August 1. These were reiterated more specifically on Monday, suggesting that adequate alerts had been provided for local authorities to remain on guard.
Looking ahead, the IMD’s five-day forecast for Uttarakhand includes a warning for “isolated heavy rainfall” across the state between August 6 and August 9.
