What are Cloudbursts and is Climate Change Making them More Frequent?

FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
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What are Cloudbursts and is Climate Change Making them More Frequent?

FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS
FILE - An elderly Kashmiri man walks on a road damaged by flash floods after a cloudburst on the outskirts of Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, July 22, 2023. Dar Yasin - staff, ASSOCIATED PRESS

Last Saturday, Mohammed Aslam was working in his kitchen garden when he heard his fellow villagers shouting that water was coming from the nearby foothills in southern Kulgam area in Indian-controlled Kashmir. Within moments, the farmer said, mud and muck from gushing water swept through the village, damaging scores of homes.
“It was sudden and swift,” Aslam said.
A cloudburst followed by flashfloods hit nearly a dozen villages in Kulgam, filling homes with mud and washing away some cattle, The Associated Press said.
A day before, on Friday night, another cloudburst in the neighboring arid, cold desert region of Ladakh triggered flashfloods and inundated parts of its major town, Leh. The floodwaters entered the town’s main market, damaging shops, sweeping away vehicles and leaving its streets a muddy mess.
Intense rainfall in the Himalayan regions of India’s Kashmir state and the adjacent mountainous cold desert of Ladakh last week destroyed roads and caused flooding of dozens of villages.
Cloudbursts are a common occurrence in Himalayan regions but experts are alarmed by the increase in extreme weather-related events.
Intense weather events, especially when more than 10 centimeters (3.94 inches) of rainfall occurs within a 10 square kilometers (3.86 square miles) region within an hour, are called cloudbursts. They have the potential to wreak havoc, causing intense flooding and landslides that affect thousands of people in mountainous regions.
Last year, a cloudburst triggered flash floods during an annual Hindu pilgrimage to a Himalayan Mountain cave in southern Kashmir, l eaving at least 16 people dead.
In 2010, dozens of villages and the main town of Leh in Ladakh were hit by the worst floods in its recent history. Homes and farm fields were devastated and over 250 people were killed.
Experts say the frequency of such events has been increasing in recent years partly due to climate change. They say damage caused by cloudbursts is also increasing because of unplanned development in mountain regions.
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 country’s weather agency. Born in the Himalayan region, Sharma has closely observed this phenomenon over his three-decade career.
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.” While some regions receive intense rainfall, he said global warming is resulting in prolonged droughts in other regions.
Experts say excessive deforestation and unplanned developments should be avoided in climate-vulnerable regions such as the Himalayas.
“The chances of landslides increase when there is excessive deforestation. Similarly, when there are known flood paths, it is best to avoid any construction in those regions,” said Mahesh Palawat a meteorologist with Skymet Weather, a private weather forecaster in India.
“It is important for people living on foothills or slopes to be moved to higher ground when heavy rains are likely to occur to minimize loss of life,” Palawat added.



Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
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Eastern Half of US Braces for More Long Days of Dangerous Heat

A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)
A kid cools off in Crown Fountain in Millennium Park as temperatures climbed to over 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), in Chicago, Illinois, on June 21, 2025. (Photo by KAMIL KRZACZYNSKI / AFP)

Tens of millions of people across the Midwest and East braced Sunday for another sweltering day of dangerously hot temperatures as a rare June heat wave continued to grip parts of the US.

Most of the northeastern quadrant of the country from Minnesota to Maine was under some type of heat advisory Sunday. So were parts of Arkansas, Tennessee, Louisiana and Mississippi, The Associated Press reported.

The temperature had already reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit (26.6 degrees Celsius) in the Chicago area by 7:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasts called for heat indices of between 100 and 105 degrees F (37.7 to 40.5 degrees C).

The heat index in Pittsburgh was expected to top 105 F. The temperature in Columbus, Ohio, was 77 F (25 C) at 8:30 a.m. Highs there were expected to reach 97 F (36 C) with a heat index around 104 F (40 C).

Forecasts called for a heat index of 100 F in Philadelphia on Sunday, with a 108 F (42.2 C) heat index on Monday.

The city’s public health department declared a heat emergency starting at noon Sunday and ending Wednesday evening. Officials directed residents to air-conditioned libraries, community centers and other locations, and set up a “heat line” staffed by medical professionals to discuss conditions and illnesses made worse by the heat. At Lincoln Financial Field, officials said each fan attending Sunday’s FIFA World Cup match would be allowed to bring in one 20-ounce (0.6-liter) plastic bottle of water.

Sunday marked the second straight day of extreme heat across the Midwest and East Coast. Heat indices on Saturday hit 103 F (39.4 C) in Chicago and 101 F (38.3 C) in Madison, Wisconsin, turning that city's annual naked bike ride into a sticky and sweaty affair.

Minneapolis baked under a heat index of 106 F (41.1 C). The actual temperature was 96 degrees F (35.5 degrees C), which broke the old record for the date of 95 F (35 C) set in 1910, according to the weather service.

The heat is expected to persist into the coming week, with the hottest temperatures shifting eastward. New York City is expected to see highs around 95 F (35 C) on Monday and Tuesday. Boston is on track for highs approaching 100 F (37.7 C) on Tuesday, and temperatures in Washington, D.C., were expected to hit 100 F on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Meteorologists say a phenomenon known as a heat dome, a large area of high pressure in the upper atmosphere that traps heat and humidity, is responsible for the extreme temperatures.

Mark Gehring, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Sullivan, Wisconsin, said this level of heat is not uncommon during the summer months in the US, although it usually takes hold in mid-July or early August. The most unusual facet of this heat wave is the sheer amount of territory sweltering under it, he said.

“It's basically everywhere east of the Rockies,” he said, referring to the Rocky Mountains. “That is unusual, to have this massive area of high dewpoints and heat.”