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News: A Nor’wester storm in Mayurbhanj caused deaths, injuries, damaged houses, uprooted trees, and disrupted electricity across several districts.
About Nor’westers
- Nor’westers are local winds that affect eastern and northeastern India during summer and cause severe thunderstorms with strong weather activity.
- Origin: These storms originate over the Chhotanagpur Plateau between Bihar and Jharkhand and move southeastwards towards Odisha, West Bengal, and Assam.
- Formation: Formation occurs when warm, moist southerly low-level winds from the Bay of Bengal meet cool, dry westerly or northwesterly upper-level winds, creating favourable conditions for the development of Nor’westers.
- Duration: They generally occur from April until the onset of the monsoon, though March events are also observed.
- Intensity: They bring gale-speed winds often exceeding 100 km/h along with heavy rainfall and hailstorms.
- Different names
- In Bengal, it is locally known as “Kalbaishaki” meaning, calamity in the month of Baisakh (the first month in the Bengal calendar).
- In Assam, they are known as Bordoisila or Bardoli Chheerha.
- Impacts
- They provide rainfall for dry soils and help crops like jute, paddy, vegetables, and fruits.
- They cause uprooting of trees, damage to crops, waterlogging, and destruction of property due to strong winds and hailstorms.
