Assessment of intense precipitation over Northwest India during 05th-09th January, 2022

Abstract

Northwest India (NWI) typically experiences a wet spell during the winter months, primarily influenced by eastward-moving western disturbances (WDs). Occasionally, the interaction between middle-level westerly winds associated with these WDs and lower-level easterlies creates conditions favorable for intense precipitation events and hailstorms during the winter in NWI. From January 5th to 9th, 2022, NWI experienced a wet spell with heavy to very heavy precipitation, accompanied by hailstorms. This paper examines the environmental conditions associated with this wet spell over NWI. It is observed that two WDs in quick succession impacted NWI, creating favorable conditions for a prolonged wet spell. Additionally, there was significant moisture incursion from the Bay of Bengal into NWI during the same period. The assessment of operational forecast & warnings their usability and performance of different NWP models has also been carried out.