GS Paper I — Q6
What is the phenomenon of 'cloudbursts'? Explain. (Answer in 150 words)
हिंदी में प्रश्न पढ़ें
'बादल फटने' की परिघटना क्या है? व्याख्या कीजिए। (उत्तर 150 शब्दों में दीजिए)
Model answer
Drafted with AI by UPSC Answer Check against this question's marking rubric, to the 150-word length. UPSC does not publish answers for Mains — this is one way to score well, not an official key. How we build rubrics and answers.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), a cloudburst is an extreme, localized precipitation event exceeding 100 mm per hour over a small area of 20–30 sq km, differing fundamentally from normal monsoon rainfall in its extreme intensity, short duration, and tight spatial coverage.
Causal Mechanism: It occurs when moisture-laden winds undergo rapid orographic lifting along mountain barriers, forming towering cumulonimbus clouds. Powerful vertical updrafts prevent condensed droplets from descending, trapping vast amounts of moisture above the freezing level. When these updrafts abruptly weaken or moisture overload exceeds vertical aerodynamic support, the suspended water crashes down simultaneously in a torrential deluge.
Hotspots and Impacts: Highly prevalent in rugged terrains like Uttarakhand (2013 Kedarnath disaster), Himachal Pradesh (2023–2024 incidents), the Northeast, and the Western Ghats, cloudbursts trigger catastrophic flash floods, landslides, and severe infrastructure destruction.
Because of their hyper-local nature and complex topography, early warning remains difficult, demanding denser high-altitude X-band Doppler Weather Radar networks for timely disaster mitigation.
How this answer will be evaluated
Framework: Geography: explain the mechanism, then location follows
What earns full marks: Clear mechanism (condensation/lifting) with specific conditions and location.
Evaluation rubric
Each sub-part is marked on its own, against the marks and word limit printed on the paper.
- The answer Explain the phenomenon of cloudbursts. 10 marks · 150 words
explain— definition/context → points in order → small example → short close
Must cover
- Definition: IMD treats about 100 mm or more of rain in an hour over a small area (roughly 20–30 sq km) as a cloudburst
- Mechanism: orographic lifting of moist air, towering cumulonimbus, strong updrafts holding large water loads until they weaken, releasing a sudden deluge
- Where and when: Himalayan states (Uttarakhand, Himachal, J&K), Northeast, Western Ghats; monsoon and pre-monsoon
- Impacts and response: flash floods, debris flows, landslides (Kedarnath 2013, Himachal 2023); limits of forecasting and need for dense radar and nowcasting
Loses marks
- Describing it as a cloud literally bursting
- No mechanism
Earns more
- Role of climate change: warmer air holds about 7% more moisture per °C
- Distinction from ordinary heavy rain in intensity, duration and extent
Extra mark
- Simple diagram of the convective process
What "Explain" is asking you to do
Make the working of something clear — what sets it off, what follows from what, and what it produces. Explain is the Commission's mechanism word: it dominates the technical papers and the “explain why” stems, where the marks sit in the causal chain and not in the label.
Structure that answers it
State what it is → the initiating condition → the chain of cause, step by step → an instance where it plays out → what the chain produces
Where marks are lost
Describing what something looks like instead of why it works that way. Naming the stages without linking them reads as description too.
Practice this exact question
Write your answer and it is marked point by point against the model answer above — what you covered, what you missed, what you got wrong.
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