Question

What is known as storm in eastern india

Answer 1

According to local officials the storm was an extreme nor'wester commonly formed over the Bay of Bengal during the hot months of the year.Meteorologist S.I. Laskar said the storm was due to an unstable atmosphere caused by excessive heat and humidity. "It is quite normal in the pre-monsoon season," he added.The severity of the storm was likely due to wind pulling the moisture from the Bay of Bengal northward to north Bihar, where it converged with another cloud formation to form a 20 km tall cloud mass. The cool air in the clouds was met by hot air rising from the ground, which caused the storm to start rotating. Although thunderstorms had been predicted, the severity of the storm was unexpected.

Although not a tropical cyclone, the storm brought back memories of Cyclone Aila, which killed 155 people in the same area in May 2009.One eyewitness described the storm: "It was all dark. I thought it was the end of the world and we were going to die." Locals received no warning of the impending storm, and were mostly sleeping when the storm hit, increasing the casualties.Out-dated equipment with limited capabilities was blamed for the lack of warnings.

The storm spawned a large tornado, which lasted about 20 minutes. It was the first tornado recorded in Bihar history.Tornadoes are a very rare occurrence in India – the last one was in 1998.Radar equipment which could have provided early warning had arrived in the area, but had not yet been installed because the building to house it was still under construction. The storm occurred during a heat wave with temperatures greater than 40 °C (104 °F) reported.West Bengal regional weather office director Gokul Chandra Debnath said that the heatwave "could have been a catalyst ... that triggered the tornado".The amount of damage caused directly by the tornado is unknown.