Key Points
Intense rainfall in the Himalayan regions of Kashmir and the adjacent mountainous cold desert of Ladakh last week destroyed roads and caused flooding of dozens of villages...
Cloudbursts are like a a huge bucket filled with water that is toppled over, said Anand Sharma, a retired meteorologist with the Indian Meteorological Department, the countrys weather agency..
Sharma says cloudbursts occur when cumulonimbus clouds enormous water-filled, cauliflower-shaped clouds empty their contents because of cold air pushing the water down..
Normally there are drafts flowing both up and down but in certain conditions, especially when the cloud grows up vertically, sometimes up to 16 kilometers (9.94 miles), cold air enters the cloud and the air flow moves only downwards, he said.. Mukhtar Ahmed, an official at IMD's Kashmir office said global warming is increasing the frequency of cloudbursts..
We are witnessing flash floods, cloudbursts and unusually high temperatures more often now, he said.. Sharma said Global warming is leading to more evaporation of water and because of this dense cumulonimbus clouds are forming, resulting in intense rainfall..
