Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India

Houze, Jr., R. A.; McMurdie, L. A.; Rasmussen, K. L.; Kumar, A.; Chaplin, M. M.

doi:10.1175/MWR-D-17-0004.1

Title: Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India

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Abstract

Conditions producing disastrous flooding in Uttarakhand, India, in June 2013 differed from conditions that produced other notorious floods in the Himalayan region in recent years. During the week preceding the Uttarakhand flood, deep convection moistened the mountainsides, making them vulnerable to flooding. However, the precipitation producing the flood was not associated with a deep convective event. Rather, an eastward-propagating upper-level trough in the westerlies extended abnormally far southward, with the jet reaching the Himalayas. The south end of the trough merged with a monsoon low moving westward across India. The merged system produced persistent moist low-level flow oriented normal to the Himalayas that advected large amounts of water vapor into the Uttarakhand region. The flow was moist neutral when it passed over the Himalayan barrier, and orographic lifting produced heavy continuous rain over the region for 2–3 days. The precipitation was largely stratiform in nature although embedded convection of moderate depth occurred along the foothills, where some mild instability was being released. The Uttarakhand flood had characteristics in common with major 2013 floods in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Alberta, Canada.

Authors:

Houze, Jr., R. A. ^[1]; McMurdie, L. A. ^[2]; Rasmussen, K. L. ^[3]; Kumar, A. ^[4]; Chaplin, M. M. ^[2]

Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington
Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, and Earth System Science Interdisciplinary Center, University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, Maryland

Publication Date:: Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017

Sponsoring Org.:: USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1405222

Grant/Contract Number:: Task order 292896 (agreement 243766)

Resource Type:: Published Article

Journal Name:: Monthly Weather Review

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Name: Monthly Weather Review Journal Volume: 145 Journal Issue: 11; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-0644

Publisher:: American Meteorological Society

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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                    Houze, Jr., R. A., McMurdie, L. A., Rasmussen, K. L., Kumar, A., and Chaplin, M. M. Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India.  United States: N. p., 2017. 
Web.  doi:10.1175/MWR-D-17-0004.1.

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                    Houze, Jr., R. A., McMurdie, L. A., Rasmussen, K. L., Kumar, A., & Chaplin, M. M. Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-17-0004.1

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                    Houze, Jr., R. A., McMurdie, L. A., Rasmussen, K. L., Kumar, A., and Chaplin, M. M. Wed .  
"Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-17-0004.1.

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@article{osti_1405222,

  title        = {Multiscale Aspects of the Storm Producing the June 2013 Flooding in Uttarakhand, India},

  author       = {Houze, Jr., R. A. and McMurdie, L. A. and Rasmussen, K. L. and Kumar, A. and Chaplin, M. M.},

  abstractNote = {Conditions producing disastrous flooding in Uttarakhand, India, in June 2013 differed from conditions that produced other notorious floods in the Himalayan region in recent years. During the week preceding the Uttarakhand flood, deep convection moistened the mountainsides, making them vulnerable to flooding. However, the precipitation producing the flood was not associated with a deep convective event. Rather, an eastward-propagating upper-level trough in the westerlies extended abnormally far southward, with the jet reaching the Himalayas. The south end of the trough merged with a monsoon low moving westward across India. The merged system produced persistent moist low-level flow oriented normal to the Himalayas that advected large amounts of water vapor into the Uttarakhand region. The flow was moist neutral when it passed over the Himalayan barrier, and orographic lifting produced heavy continuous rain over the region for 2–3 days. The precipitation was largely stratiform in nature although embedded convection of moderate depth occurred along the foothills, where some mild instability was being released. The Uttarakhand flood had characteristics in common with major 2013 floods in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Alberta, Canada.},

  doi          = {10.1175/MWR-D-17-0004.1},

  journal      = {Monthly Weather Review},

  number       = 11,

  volume       = 145,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017},

  month        = {Wed Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017}

}

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