What are cloudbursts and why they are more common in places like Amarnath

On Friday, a cloudburst near Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir claimed at least 16 lives and over 40 are still missing. Following the cloudburst, Amarnath yatra has been suspended till further advisory.

According to criterion of IMD, if there is a rainfall of 100 mm in one hour over a geographical region of approximately 20 to 30 square km then the chanes of its occurence increases manifold.

A special weather advisory is released every year by IMD, for the Yatra. On July 8, daily forecast for this area was on “yellow alert”, meaning “keep watch”. Even the evening forecast stated “partly cloudy sky with chances of light rain” for all the routes towards Amarnath Shrine.


No accompanying warning was issued. According to automatic weather station (AWS) data at the Amarnath cave, no rainfall was reported from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. Between 4:30 to 5:30 pm, 3 mm rainfall was reported, which increased to 28 mm between 5:30 pm-6:30 pm.

Amarnath Shrine
The shrine is located in Jammu and Kashmir, at an altitude of 3,888 m. It is located at a distance of 141 kms from Srinagar. It is an important part of Hinduism. Amarnath cave is located near Lidder Valley. It is surrounded by glaciers, snowy mountains, which remains covered with snow most of the year. Yearly pilgrimage varied between 20 and 60 days.