Extreme Hydrological Events in January 2022: A Case Study over Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State, India

Abstract

The study will look at extreme rainfall events in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where both the monsoon and post-monsoon seasons significantly contribute to rainfall. The winter season 2022 was highlighted by unusual rainfall in some districts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the 2nd week of January 2022, causing significant damage. In this paper, we identify the observational aspects, main synoptic system, physical process, and thermodynamic features leading to such unusual rainfall during the winter season. According to the study's findings, a hailstorm was recorded over Telangana state on January 13, 2022, heavy rain fell in Telangana due to the most active western disturbance as a cyclonic circulation over Rajasthan and Pakistan; on January 14, 2022, heavy to very heavy rain fell in Vizianagaram (16 cm) due to the convergence of winds from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal at lower tropospheric levels over east and adjoining central India and a trough from north interior Karnataka to north interior Odisha. The diurnal and temporal pattern of the hail storm and heavy rainfall over the Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States shows that late evenings are most conducive for the occurrence of extreme rainfall events due to the accumulation of precipitable water.