Analysis of heavy Rainfall over Uttar Pradesh (India) during the 2019 Southwest Monsoon

Abstract This paper aims to detect trend of heavy rainfall and the possible environmental conditions over the state of Uttar Pradesh, India during the southwest monsoon (SWM) 2019. Following India Meteorological Department (IMD) criteria, rainfall ($r>64.4$ mm/day) days were studied into three categories, heavy rainfall days, very heavy rainfall days and extremely heavy rainfall days. East Uttar Pradesh was more active compared to west Uttar Pradesh. July experienced the most frequent Heavy rainfall and Very heavy rainfall in both East & West Uttar Pradesh. East Uttar Pradesh recorded significantly more instances of Heavy rainfall events compared to West Uttar Pradesh, especially in the month of July. August had the fewest stations reporting extremely heavy rainfall in both the regions of Uttar Pradesh. The data also revealed that heavy rainfall events occurred in distinct phases. For instance, major wet spells were observed during June 22–25, July 6–15 and 24–28, August 5–7 and 20–24, and September 17–19 and 27–30. In this study, we identified and filtered the major wet spells during which significant rainfall was recorded. Six episodes were then examined to gain a basic understanding of the dominant synoptic systems, as highlighted in the All India Weather Reports from the IMD. Meteorological analysis indicated that the key synoptic systems associated with these events included low pressure areas and Cyclonic Circulations. This study may have potential application in disaster management and operational forecasts & warning services.