July 7 record-breaking rainfall in Kanchanpur due to 'Terai Cloudburst': Report

 The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has unveiled a study report about the extreme precipitation recorded in Kanchanpur on July 7.

The report that was made public on Sunday termed that phenomenon 'Terai Cloudburst'.

The Department carried out a field visit to Dodhara, Hanumannagar, and Sundarpur to observe the automated rainfall measurement instruments installed there. The device fixed in Sundarpur suggested data differing from the Department standards, prompting the need for further assessment, it is said.

Hanumannagar witnessed 102 mm of rainfall in an hour from 10:05 pm to 11:05 pm on July 7.

In 24 hours from 8:45 am on July 7 to 08:45 am on July 28, Hanumanagar received 573.6 mm of rainfall, Sundarpur 556.4 mm and Dodhara 624 mm.

As said by Department spokesperson Sunil Pokhrel, the downpour was due to the combination of monsoon in the upper, middle, and lower atmosphere in the area and the low-pressure system developed in the Westerly wind.

Plain lands of Kanchanpur were inundated while the swelling of various rivulets caused damages due to the extreme rainfall.

While analyzing the satellite photo captured at 6:15 am on July 9, around 98 square kilometres (around six percent of the total area) of Kanchanpur was inundated.

Of it, around 85 square kilometres of agricultural land as well as around 14,000 physical structures were affected. In course of interactions and other sources during the onsite visit, the details of relatively less damages were reported in the incident of highest rainfall measured in Nepal so far.

The report drew the conclusion that dissemination of special bulletins on time by the Department, meteorological forecasting based on impact, mass SMS service and sufficient preparedness and response, effective search and rescue have played major role to lessen damages.

The report suggested increased investment in the sector of weather forecasting and preparedness in order to minimize the disaster risk as monsoon-related incidents would increases due to the climate change.