A comprehensive study of atmospheric dynamics associated with cloudburst events in 2022 over Indian Himalayan Region

This comprehensive study aims to investigate the cloudburst events that occurred in the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) during the year 2022, focusing on their characteristics, structure and dynamics. Cloudburst events have been observed in different states of the Himalayan region, with their unique geographical features, and are susceptible to extreme weather phenomena, which pose significant challenges to the local communities and infrastructure. A majority of cloudburst events occur within the folds of valleys of the Indian Himalayas, where elevations range from 325 to 4073 m. As the year 2022 witnessed frequent cloudburst events in the IHR (Himachal Pradesh recorded around 24 cloudburst events, Uttarakhand recorded 18 and Jammu and Kashmir recorded 24 events), an attempt is being made for the comprehensive analysis of the role of atmospheric dynamics to result in such extreme events in the valley region. The analysis clearly advocates that certain atmospheric phenomena, such as frontal boundaries like temperature, humidity, convective available potential energy, convective inhibition, or atmospheric disturbances, can act as triggers for cloud burst events. The spatial distribution of different thermodynamic parameters during the previous day, event day and the day after the cloudburst events are also analysed to quantify the role of atmospheric dynamics in the temporal distribution. This study has highlighted the importance of low-level jets and moisture transport in forming the convective systems that lead to cloudbursts over the Himalayan region due to wind patterns.