1.4-Hydrometeorological aspects of September 1988 storm over Western Himalayas

Abstract

The western Himalayan region covers the hilly areas in the states of Jammu and. Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh in India. The rivers in the region namely Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas, Sutlej, upper Yamuna and upper Ganga occasionally experience floods caused by intense storms. These storms occur as a result of an interplay of tropical and extratropical weather systems both at surface as well as in the lower and middle troposphere. The severe floods in the past such as Sept 1947 and Oct 1955 in Punjab and August 1957 in Jammu and Kashmir are noteworthy. One storm which has caused flooding over vast areas in the western Himalayan region is the Sept 1988 storm. The storm was identical to the Oct 1955 storm in respect of rain depths as well as areal extent. Some of the hydrometeorological aspects of the Sept 1988 storm including its temporal distribution at different locations are presented and discussed.