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2001 Islamabad cloud burst

Record breaking rainfall in Pakistan

2001 Islamabad Cloudburst
Date of Occurrence
Place
Deaths
Maximum Precipitation

On 23 July 2001, Islamabad experienced a record breaking 620 mm of rainfall, which was the 24 hours heaviest rainfall in Pakistan during the past 100 years. Continuous downpour lasted for about 10 hours from 0600 to 1600 PST in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, caused the worst ever Flash flood in the local stream called Nulla Lai and its tributaries of Rawalpindi, which not only flood the low-lying areas of the twin cities but swept away the banks of the stream and buildings built in the encroachments. Islamabad's twin city, Rawalpindi experienced 335 mm of rain during this event.

Causes

The cloud burst was the result of the sequel of vigorously developed cloud due to the combined effect of well marked westerly trough (Westerly wave), passing over 500hpa with enough supply of moisture from southwest monsoon.

A surface low pressure formed over Hazara and Malakand division between 34-37ºN and 70-75ºE with central pressure less than 996 hpa. There was a gradually accentuating upper air westerly trough at 500 hpa between 40-50ºN and 60-70ºE and there were strong monsoon incursions from the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal while the southwesterly monsoon current from the Arabian Sea showed strong convergence over Islamabad, Rawalpindi District and Hazara and Malakand Divisions and the presence of a strong southeasterly monsoon current from along the foothills of the Himalayas caused the cloudburst over the twin cities of Rawalpindi/Islamabad.

Rainfall recorded by Pakistan Meteorological Department in different locations of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is detailed below.

Name of Station	Location	0500–0800 PST	0800–1100 PST	1100–1400 PST	1400–1700 PST	Total Rainfall from 0500 to 1700 PST
PMD Headquarters	Islamabad	42 mm	132 mm	400 mm	46 mm	620 mm
Saidpur	Islamabad	103 mm	Did not measure	Did not measure	314 mm	417 mm
Shamsabad	Rawalpindi	04 mm	83 mm	200 mm	48 mm	335 mm
Airport	Rawalpindi	Traces	06 mm	65 mm	99 mm	170 mm

Aftermath

Pakistan Meteorological Department issued heavy rainfall forecast in its Weather Broadcast Bulletin a day earlier and Flash flood Warning was issued almost 4–5 hours in advance. Due to the continuous heavy downpour, the Nullah Lai and its tributaries over flooded and inundated the nearby houses, bridges and roads. According to the official figures, at least 10 people died, 800 houses were destroyed and 1,069 houses were damaged in Islamabad. Over all 61 people died of the catastrophe.

References

"Severe Storms on dated 23 July 2001 Islamabad, Pakistan". Abdul Hameed, Director Pakistan Meteorological Department.
(6 August 2001). "Weather Log - July 21–31, 2001". National Climatic Data Center.
Azmat Hayat, Anjum Bari Farooqi. (5 July 2005). "Economic And Societal Impacts Of Very Short Range Forecasting In Developing Countries And User Concerns; Pakistan Perspective".
Naeem Shah. (21 October 2002). "Cloud Burst (Heavy Rain) Over Twin Cities Islamabad - Rawalpindi on 23rd July 2001".
Abdul Hameed. (10 July 2007). "SEVERE STORMS on dated 23rd July 2001 Islamabad pakistan".
(July–December 2001). "SMRC-Newsletter". [[SAARC Meteorological Research Centre]].
(July–December 2001). "SMRC-Newsletter". [[SAARC Meteorological Research Centre]].

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

geography-of-islamabad floods-in-pakistan 2001-in-pakistan meteorological-events-in-2001 2000s-in-islamabad

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