Behind unseasonal rain & lightning strikes in Gujarat
- November 29, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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Behind unseasonal rain & lightning strikes in Gujarat
Subject: Geography
Section: Physical geography
Context:
- Unseasonal heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms, hailstorms and lightning strikes claimed 27 lives in Gujarat.
Details:
- The disaster management system is designed more for earthquakes and heavy rainfall and not for lightning, which annually contributes to many deaths in India.
What explains the weather events?
- The rain and the lightning have been attributed to the three weather systems- cyclonic circulation over the Northern Arabian Sea and adjoining Saurashtra and Kutch, Western Disturbances, and an easterly trough.
- Western disturbances are storms that originate over the Mediterranean Sea region and may bring rainfall to northwestern India in the winter.
- Easterly winds flow from the east in the equatorial region throughout the year.
Why the lightning strikes?
- There are two reasons for lightning strikes:
- Whenever there is an interaction between any system and Western Disturbances, it leads to lightning.
- The first spell of activity after a long dry period leads to convective activity, which results in lightning.
- The thunderstorm can also be explained by the presence of more moisture interacting with the Western Disturbances this time.
- This time, the equatorial region, particularly the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ, located slightly north of the Equator) is also very active.
Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA):
- Set up in 2001, after the Bhuj earthquake.
- It was to act as a nodal agency to plan and implement pre-disaster preparedness and migration activities.
- One of the objectives of GSDMA, as part of long-term disaster preparedness, is to prepare programmes and plans to mitigate losses on account of disasters as a strategy.
- The authority is working on an early warning system for cyclones.
Source: Indian Express