Articles | Volume 15, issue 7
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-15-1597-2015
https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-15-1597-2015
Brief communication
 | 
23 Jul 2015
Brief communication |  | 23 Jul 2015

Brief Communication: Climatic, meteorological and topographical causes of the 16–17 June 2013 Kedarnath (India) natural disaster event

R. Singh, D. Siingh, S. A. Gokani, M. G. Sreeush, P. S. Buchunde, A. K. Maurya, R. P. Singh, and A. K. Singh

Abstract. The devastating flood episode (16–17 June 2013) at Kedarnath (Uttrakhand, India), caused a huge loss of lives and loss of physical/material wealth. To understand this catastrophic event, rainfall/convective data and associated climate meteorological parameters are investigated. A low-pressure zone with very high cloud cover (60–90 %) and relative humidity (70–100 %), associated with low (< 4 m s−1) wind velocity, are observed over the Kedarnath region during 15–17 June. The cause of this disaster seems to be heavy and continuous rainfall, associated with snowmelt and the overflooding/collapse of Chorabari Lake, located upstream. Monsoon advancement was much faster than usual, due to the presence of the convectively active phase of the Madden–Julian oscillation.

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The paper addresses the devastating flood episode (17-18 June 2013) at Kedarnath (Uttrakhand, India). The disaster caused a huge loss of lives and loss of physical/material wealth. To understand the causes of this catastrophic event, rainfall/convective data and associated climate meteorological parameters are investigated. The cause of this disaster seems to be heavy and continuous rainfall, associated with snowmelt and the overflooding/collapse of Chorabari Lake, located upstream.
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