Dehradun records 250mm rain in 2 hours

DEHRADUN: The regional meteorological centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Dehradun's Sahastradhara and Maldevta areas recorded over 250mm rainfall in around two hours on Monday evening, "highest in recent history".
Bikram Singh, director, regional meteorological centre, said, "It started drizzling around 5.30pm, then the rainfall suddenly increased at 6.45pm and in the next hour, over 100mm pounded Sahastradhara area. The automatic weather station has shown 251mm rainfall in less than three hours in Dehradun and adjoining areas. I cannot recall this amount of rain being received in the city in such a short span in the past decade."
Though IMD does not maintain hourly rainfall data, Singh said higher rainfall was recorded during the 2013 Kedarnath tragedy when over 300mm rainfall lashed Kedar valley in less than 24 hours.
On Monday night, the regional meteorological centre issued a red alert stating, "Very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Sahastradhara, Maldevta and adjoining areas of northern part of Dehradun and southern parts of Mussoorie during the next one hour. It can cause landslides and sudden increase in water level in streams and local rivulets".
Apart from Dehradun, Haldwani in Nainital district received 153mm rainfall, followed by 150mm in Yamkeshwar, 140mm in Narendra Nagar and 105mm in Kaladhungi. Meanwhile, the met centre issued an orange alert for heavy to very heavy rainfall in Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Champawat and Nainital district on August 9.