What Is a Tropical Cyclone?

October 25, 2026October 4, 2026 by admin

What Is a Tropical Cyclone?

Weather Guide • Extreme Weather • 7 minute read

A tropical cyclone seen from above: a calm eye, a ring of violent storms around it and spiral rain bands reaching far outward.

A tropical cyclone is a huge, rotating storm that forms over warm ocean water and can bring winds above 250 km/h, torrential rain and a wall of seawater onto the coast. Some are small and weak. The strongest are hundreds of kilometres wide and can affect millions of people. This guide explains what a tropical cyclone is, how it forms, what the different names mean and how to stay safe when one approaches.

The short answer: A tropical cyclone is a spinning storm system with a low-pressure centre, fed by heat and moisture from warm seas (about 26.5°C or more). Its winds spiral inward around a calm centre called the eye. It weakens quickly once it moves over cold water or land.

Tropical Cyclone, Hurricane and Typhoon: Same Storm, Different Names

These words describe the same type of storm. The name depends only on where it forms.

Name	Where it is used
Hurricane	North Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and the northeast Pacific
Typhoon	Northwest Pacific, including Japan, China and the Philippines
Cyclone	Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal, South Pacific and Australian region

So a storm in the Arabian Sea that threatens Karachi or the Makran coast is called a cyclone, while the same kind of storm near Florida would be called a hurricane.

How Does a Tropical Cyclone Form?

A tropical cyclone needs several ingredients to come together at the same time. If one is missing, the storm usually fails to grow.

Warm ocean water: sea temperature of about 26.5°C or higher, reaching down roughly 50 metres. This is the fuel.
Moist air: humid air in the lower and middle atmosphere lets towering storm clouds keep growing.
Light upper-level winds: strong wind shear tears a young storm apart, so calm conditions are needed.
A starting disturbance: a cluster of thunderstorms or a low-pressure area to organise around.
Distance from the equator: the spin of the Earth (the Coriolis effect) is needed to make the storm rotate, so tropical cyclones almost never form within about 5 degrees of the equator.

Step by step

Warm sea water heats the air above it, and the moist air rises.
As the vapour rises and cools, it condenses into clouds and releases heat, which makes the air rise even faster.
Air at the surface rushes in to replace it, and the Earth’s rotation twists this inflow into a spiral.
The pressure at the centre keeps falling, the winds grow stronger and an eye can form.

Parts of a Tropical Cyclone

The eye

The eye is the centre of the storm, usually 30 to 65 kilometres wide. Skies can be clear and winds light. It can fool people into thinking the storm has ended, but the violent winds return from the opposite direction once the eye passes.

The eyewall

The eyewall is the ring of tall thunderstorms around the eye. It has the strongest winds and the heaviest rain in the entire cyclone.

Rain bands

Curved bands of showers and thunderstorms spiral outward from the centre. They can stretch far from the eye and bring gusts, heavy rain and even tornadoes long before the main part of the storm arrives.

Which Way Does It Spin?

In the Northern Hemisphere, a tropical cyclone rotates counter-clockwise. In the Southern Hemisphere, it rotates clockwise. Both are caused by the rotation of the Earth.

Stages and Strength of a Tropical Cyclone

A tropical cyclone grows through stages, based on its maximum sustained wind speed.

Stage	Sustained wind speed
Tropical depression	Below 63 km/h
Tropical storm	63 to 118 km/h
Category 1 hurricane or typhoon	119 to 153 km/h
Category 2	154 to 177 km/h
Category 3 (major)	178 to 208 km/h
Category 4 (major)	209 to 251 km/h
Category 5 (major)	252 km/h or more

These categories follow the Saffir-Simpson scale. Agencies in the North Indian Ocean use their own terms, such as cyclonic storm, severe cyclonic storm and very severe cyclonic storm, with slightly different wind thresholds. The category only measures wind. A weaker storm can still cause a disaster through rain or flooding.

Why Is a Tropical Cyclone So Dangerous?

Storm surge

The strong winds and the low pressure push the sea up and onto land as a wall of water. Storm surge is often the deadliest part of a tropical cyclone, especially along flat coastlines.

Destructive winds

Winds can tear off roofs, snap power poles, uproot trees and turn loose objects into flying debris.

Heavy rain and flooding

A slow-moving storm can drop huge amounts of rain. Flash floods and landslides can strike far inland, long after the winds have weakened.

Tornadoes

Rain bands can spawn short-lived tornadoes, mainly on the side of the storm where winds are strongest.

Where and When Do Tropical Cyclones Form?

Tropical cyclones form over warm tropical oceans. The main basins are the North Atlantic, the northeast and northwest Pacific, the North and South Indian Ocean and the Australian and South Pacific region. The Atlantic hurricane season officially runs from 1 June to 30 November. In the North Indian Ocean, activity peaks twice a year, before the monsoon (May and June) and after it (October and November).

Tropical Cyclones in Pakistan

Pakistan is not hit by cyclones as often as India or Bangladesh, but the risk is real. Storms form over the Arabian Sea and can threaten the coast of Sindh and Balochistan, including Karachi, Thatta, Gwadar and Ormara. Even when a cyclone does not make landfall, it can bring rough seas, strong winds, heavy rain, high tides and flooding. Cyclone Biparjoy in June 2023 is a recent example: it moved close to the Sindh coast, and thousands of people were moved to safer areas as a precaution. Fishermen are usually advised to stay out of the sea whenever a cyclone develops.

How Does a Tropical Cyclone End?

A tropical cyclone weakens when it loses its fuel. This happens when it moves over cold water, when it reaches land and loses the supply of warm moist air, or when strong wind shear breaks up its structure. A storm over land can still cause severe flooding for days, even after its winds have fallen.

Tropical Cyclone Safety Tips

Follow official warnings from your national weather service, such as the Pakistan Meteorological Department, and the instructions of local authorities.
Evacuate early if you are told to, especially if you live near the coast or in a low-lying area.
Prepare an emergency kit with drinking water, dry food, medicines, a torch, a power bank, a radio and copies of important documents.
Secure loose objects, shut windows and stay away from glass.
Do not go near the sea. Waves and surge can reach far beyond the beach.
Stay indoors, even if the eye passes over and it suddenly feels calm.
Never walk or drive through flood water.

For official forecasts and tracking maps, you can visit the National Hurricane Center. For updates in your area, check the live weather and weather maps on WeatherWorld.

Do Tropical Cyclones Get Names?

Yes. Naming storms makes warnings clearer and easier to remember, especially when more than one storm is active. Each region uses its own rotating lists of names agreed by the World Meteorological Organization. Names of especially deadly or costly storms are usually retired and never used again.

Is Climate Change Affecting Tropical Cyclones?

Research suggests that a warmer climate is making the strongest tropical cyclones more intense and increasing the amount of rain they produce. Rising sea levels also make storm surge more damaging. Scientists are less certain whether the total number of storms will change. This is an active area of study, and the details differ from one ocean basin to another.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between a tropical cyclone and a tornado?

A tropical cyclone is hundreds of kilometres wide, forms over the ocean and lasts for days. A tornado is only a few hundred metres wide, forms over land from a single thunderstorm and lasts for minutes.

Why is the eye of a tropical cyclone calm?

Air sinks in the centre of the storm, which warms and dries it and keeps clouds from forming. The strongest winds are in the eyewall just outside.

Can a tropical cyclone form on land?

No. It needs warm ocean water as fuel, so it dies out soon after moving inland.

How long does a tropical cyclone last?

Most last from several days to about two weeks, although some live longer if they stay over warm water.

Can we stop a tropical cyclone?

No. A strong one releases energy on a scale far beyond anything humans can control. The best defence is early warning, preparation and timely evacuation.

Final Thoughts

A tropical cyclone is one of the most powerful weather systems on Earth. It is born over warm seas, organised by the spin of the planet and carried toward land by the winds around it. Understanding how it forms and what it brings, from storm surge to flooding rain, helps you take warnings seriously and act early. Keep an eye on official forecasts during cyclone season, prepare before the storm approaches and never take a calm eye as a sign that the danger has passed.

Stay ahead of the storm: check the live weather, hourly forecast and weather maps on WeatherWorld.

What Is a Tornado and How Does It Form?

October 25, 2026October 4, 2026 by admin

What Is a Tornado and How Does It Form?

Weather Guide • Severe Weather • 7 minute read

A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm cloud down to the ground.

In a few minutes, a calm afternoon can turn dark, the wind can drop suddenly and a grey funnel can drop out of the sky. So what is a tornado, and how does it form? A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that stretches from a thunderstorm cloud to the ground. It is small compared to a tropical cyclone, but at close range it can be the most violent wind on Earth. This guide explains what a tornado is, how it forms step by step, how tornadoes are rated and how to stay safe.

The short answer: A tornado forms when a thunderstorm contains a rotating updraft, usually in warm, moist and unstable air with winds that change speed and direction with height. The spinning column tightens, stretches down from the cloud and touches the ground. Most tornadoes last only a few minutes, but the strongest can destroy well-built houses.

What Is a Tornado?

A tornado is a narrow, violently rotating column of air that is in contact with both the ground and a cloud above it. The visible part is the funnel, which is made of water droplets that condense as pressure drops inside the vortex. Dust and debris near the ground often make the base look dark. If the funnel is in the air and has not reached the ground, it is called a funnel cloud, and it only counts as a tornado once it touches down.

Width: usually 50 to 200 metres, although the biggest can be more than 2 kilometres wide.
Life span: mostly a few minutes, though a rare long-track tornado can last over an hour.
Wind speed: from about 105 km/h in the weakest to over 400 km/h in the most violent.
Direction of spin: counter-clockwise in most tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere, but a few spin the other way.

What Do You Need to Make a Tornado?

Tornadoes are born inside severe thunderstorms. Several ingredients must meet in the same place:

Warm, moist air near the ground: this is the fuel, and it often flows in from a warm sea or a humid region.
Cooler, drier air above: it makes the atmosphere unstable, so warm air rises strongly once it is lifted.
A lifting trigger: a cold front, a dry line, a sea breeze or a mountain slope pushes the air up.
Wind shear: the wind changes speed and direction with height, for example a light south wind at the surface and a strong west wind higher up. This is the source of the spin.

How Does a Tornado Form? 6 Steps

The air becomes unstable. Warm, moist air sits under a layer of cooler, drier air, like a pot ready to boil.
A storm starts to grow. Something lifts the warm air, and it rises quickly, forming a tall thunderstorm cloud.
Wind shear makes a rolling tube. The faster wind above and the slower wind below create a horizontal spinning tube of air, a little like a rolling pin turning in the sky.
The updraft tilts the tube upright. The storm’s strong updraft lifts the middle of the tube and tilts it into a vertical column. The storm itself now rotates. This rotating updraft is called a mesocyclone, and the storm is a supercell.
The rotation tightens. As a cool downdraft wraps around the rotation and the updraft stretches the column upward, the spin gets narrower and faster, just as a skater spins faster by pulling in their arms.
The funnel touches down. The low-pressure core extends from the cloud base to the ground. Once it reaches the surface, it is a tornado.

Not every supercell makes a tornado, and scientists are still studying why some do and others do not. Many tornadoes also form from other kinds of storms, such as lines of thunderstorms and the outer rain bands of a tropical cyclone, but these tend to be weaker and shorter.

Warning Signs of a Tornado

A dark, sometimes greenish sky.
Large hail, especially with little or no rain.
A rotating, lowering cloud base or a wall cloud.
A sudden calm after heavy rain or hail.
A loud, continuous roar, often compared to a freight train.
Dust or debris swirling near the ground, even when no funnel is visible.

How Strong Is a Tornado? The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale

Tornadoes are rated by the damage they cause, since it is rarely possible to measure the wind directly. The Enhanced Fujita scale runs from EF0 to EF5.

Rating	Estimated wind speed	Typical damage
EF0	105 to 137 km/h	Light: branches broken, some roof tiles lifted
EF1	138 to 177 km/h	Moderate: roof surfaces peeled, mobile homes pushed over
EF2	179 to 218 km/h	Considerable: roofs torn off, large trees snapped
EF3	219 to 266 km/h	Severe: walls knocked down, trains overturned
EF4	267 to 322 km/h	Devastating: well-built houses levelled
EF5	Over 322 km/h	Incredible: strong buildings swept off their foundations

Most tornadoes are weak (EF0 or EF1). Only a small share reach EF4 or EF5, but these cause most of the deaths.

Where Do Tornadoes Happen?

Tornadoes occur on every continent except Antarctica. The United States has the most, especially across the central plains often called Tornado Alley, where warm, moist air from the Gulf of Mexico meets cold, dry air from Canada and dry air from the Rocky Mountains. Other regions include Argentina and Uruguay, Bangladesh and eastern India, and parts of Europe, Australia and South Africa. Bangladesh has suffered some of the deadliest tornadoes in history, because of its dense population and the strong storms of the pre-monsoon season.

Tornadoes in Pakistan

Pakistan does not have a regular tornado season like the central United States, and strong tornadoes are rare. Still, severe thunderstorms in the pre-monsoon and monsoon months, especially across Punjab and the upper Sindh plains, can produce short-lived tornadoes, as well as damaging downburst winds and dust storms. Damage from a sudden windstorm is often mistaken for a tornado, which is why a trained survey of the damage pattern is needed to tell them apart. Always follow warnings from the Pakistan Meteorological Department when a severe storm is forecast.

Tornado vs Hurricane vs Dust Devil vs Waterspout

Phenomenon	Size and life span	Key difference
Tornado	Tens to hundreds of metres, minutes	Born from a thunderstorm, with extreme local winds
Tropical cyclone	Hundreds of kilometres, days	Forms over warm seas, brings surge and flooding rain
Dust devil	A few metres, minutes	Forms on hot, clear days from rising hot air, not from a storm, and is much weaker
Waterspout	Tens of metres, minutes	A spinning column over water. Some are tornadoes over water, while most “fair-weather” types are weak

To compare with a much larger spinning storm, read what a tropical cyclone is.

Tornado Safety Tips

Know the difference between a watch (conditions are right for a tornado) and a warning (a tornado is happening or about to happen). Act at once on a warning.
Go to the lowest floor of a strong building, such as a basement or a small interior room away from windows. Put as many walls as you can between you and the outside.
Cover your head and neck with your arms, a mattress, heavy blankets or a helmet.
Do not stay in a mobile home or a light, temporary shelter. Move to a stronger building if there is time.
Do not try to outrun a tornado in a car in heavy traffic. If you are caught outdoors with no shelter, lie flat in a low area and cover your head. Avoid highway overpasses, which can funnel the wind.
Do not waste time opening windows. It does not equalise pressure, and it wastes precious seconds.
Keep a battery radio, a charged phone, a torch, water and a first aid kit ready.
After the storm, stay away from fallen power lines, broken glass and damaged buildings.

Keep watching the sky and the forecast with the live weather, hourly forecast and weather maps on WeatherWorld.

Can We Predict Tornadoes?

Forecasters can tell days ahead when the ingredients for severe storms are in place, and they can issue a warning when radar shows rotation in a storm or when spotters see a funnel. The lead time is often only minutes, so a clear plan is vital. The exact time and place of a touchdown are still very hard to forecast far in advance.

Learn More

For official safety guidance, visit the National Weather Service tornado safety page. To understand how pressure differences drive severe weather, read about atmospheric pressure, and to see how the same atmosphere can clear after a storm, read how a rainbow forms.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a tornado in simple words?

A tornado is a fast-spinning column of air that reaches from a thunderstorm cloud to the ground. It can destroy buildings and throw objects through the air.

How does a tornado form?

Warm, moist air rises in a thunderstorm while wind shear makes the storm rotate. The rotation tightens and stretches down from the cloud until it touches the ground.

How fast are tornado winds?

From about 105 km/h in weak tornadoes to over 400 km/h in the most violent ones.

What is the difference between a tornado and a funnel cloud?

A funnel cloud is a spinning cloud that hangs from the storm but has not reached the ground. When it touches the surface, it is a tornado.

How long does a tornado last?

Most last only a few minutes. A small number last longer than half an hour, and very rarely more than an hour.

Where is the safest place during a tornado?

The lowest level of a strong building, in an interior room away from windows, such as a basement or a small bathroom.

Can a tornado happen at night?

Yes. Night tornadoes are especially dangerous because they are hard to see and people may be asleep, so a weather alert on your phone or radio is important.

Final Thoughts

A tornado is one of the most violent and fastest-changing weather events on Earth. It grows from warm, moist air, an unstable atmosphere and winds that change with height, and it can go from nothing to a destructive funnel within minutes. You cannot stop a tornado, but you can prepare. Learn the warning signs, know where your safe place is and act at once when a warning is issued. A few minutes of preparation can save lives.

Stay ahead of severe weather: check the live weather, hourly forecast and weather maps on WeatherWorld.

What Is a Flash Flood and How Does It Happen?

October 25, 2026October 3, 2026 by admin

What Is a Flash Flood and How Does It Happen?

Weather Guide • Flood Safety • 7 minute read

A flash flood happens when heavy rain runs off the land faster than the ground or rivers can handle, so water rises within minutes or hours.

The sky is dark in the hills, but where you are standing the weather looks fine. A few minutes later a dry stream bed fills with brown, roaring water. That is a flash flood, and it is one of the most dangerous weather events because it gives so little time to react. So what is a flash flood, and how does it happen? This guide explains the science in simple steps, shows what makes some places more at risk, and tells you exactly how to stay safe.

The short answer: A flash flood is a sudden, fast-rising flood that usually starts within a few hours (often under six) of heavy rain, or from a dam or ice dam failure. It happens when water arrives faster than the ground can soak it up or rivers can carry it away. Steep land, hard surfaces and slow-moving storms make it worse.

What Is a Flash Flood?

A flash flood is a rapid rise of water in a normally dry area or in a small stream, river or drain. The word “flash” is the key. Unlike a river flood, which can build slowly over days as water collects far upstream, a flash flood can reach its peak in minutes to a few hours. The water is often fast, muddy and full of rocks, trees and debris, so it can destroy roads, bridges and houses.

Flash Flood vs River Flood

Feature	Flash flood	River flood
Speed	Minutes to a few hours	Many hours to days
Warning time	Very short, sometimes none	Usually longer
Where	Hills, valleys, dry channels, cities	Large rivers and flood plains
Water	Fast, powerful, full of debris	Slower, but may last for days
Main cause	Intense, short, heavy rain	Long rain or snowmelt upstream

How Does a Flash Flood Happen? 5 Steps

Intense rain falls. A thunderstorm or a monsoon cloudburst drops a large amount of rain in a short time.
The ground cannot absorb it. Soil can only soak up water at a certain speed. When rain falls faster than that, or the ground is already wet, the extra water stays on the surface. This is called runoff.
Water flows downhill and joins up. Runoff flows into gullies, streams and drains. Many small streams combine into one, so the flow grows quickly.
The channel fills. The narrow valley, stream or drain cannot carry that much water, so the level jumps up and spills over the banks.
A surge moves downstream. The flood can reach places where it is not even raining. People downstream may see a clear sky and still get hit by a wall of water.

What Causes a Flash Flood?

Heavy rain and slow-moving storms

A storm that moves slowly or keeps forming over the same place, called training, can drop huge amounts of rain on one area. Monsoon depressions and the remains of a tropical cyclone can also bring days of heavy rain.

Steep land

On steep slopes, water runs off quickly and has little time to soak in. Narrow mountain valleys act like funnels and make the flood deeper and faster.

Hard and dry ground

Concrete, asphalt and roofs do not absorb water. In cities, almost all the rain becomes runoff and pours into drains that may be blocked or too small. Very dry, baked soil and burned land can also repel water at first, so the rain runs straight off.

Saturated soil

If earlier rain has already filled the soil, a new storm cannot sink in at all, and even moderate rain can cause flooding.

Blocked drains and rivers

Rubbish, silt and buildings that block natural water channels cut the space water needs to flow away.

Dam, embankment or ice-dam failure

A broken dam, a breached canal bank or a collapsed natural dam made of ice or landslide debris can release a huge volume of water at once. In mountain regions, a glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF) happens when a lake of melted glacier water bursts through its ice or rock wall.

Snowmelt and rain together

Warm rain falling on a deep snowpack can melt it quickly, adding much more water than the rain alone.

Warning Signs of a Flash Flood

Heavy rain, thunder or dark clouds upstream or in the hills, even if it is dry where you are.
A sudden rise in the water level of a stream, or water that turns muddy, brown or full of debris.
A rumbling sound like a train or a roar coming from up the valley.
A dry stream bed that suddenly starts to flow.
Water rising in drains, underpasses and low roads.
An official flash flood watch or warning for your area.

Flash Flood Watch vs Warning

Alert	Meaning	What to do
Watch	Conditions could produce a flash flood	Be ready, check the forecast and plan an escape route
Warning	A flash flood is happening or about to happen	Move to higher ground at once

How Dangerous Is Moving Water?

People often underestimate the force of flowing water. As a rough guide used by safety agencies:

Depth of moving water	What it can do
About 15 cm	Can knock an adult off their feet
About 30 cm	Can float many cars
About 60 cm	Can carry away most vehicles, including large SUVs

You cannot judge the depth, speed or the state of the road under flood water by looking at it. The road may already be washed out beneath the surface. This is why safety teams say “Turn around, don’t drown.”

Flash Floods in Pakistan

Pakistan is highly exposed to flash floods. In the monsoon months from July to September, heavy bursts of rain on the steep hills of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir and the Balochistan highlands can send water rushing down narrow valleys and dry hill torrents (called nullahs and rod-kohi channels) within hours. Hill streams near popular tourist areas such as Swat, Kaghan and Naran can rise fast, and tourists camping or taking photos on river banks are often caught by a sudden surge. In the north, glacial lake outburst floods are a growing concern as glaciers melt in a warming climate. The country’s monsoon floods of 2022 were among the worst in its history, affecting millions of people. In cities such as Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, short, intense rain can fill blocked drains and nullahs and flood roads and underpasses within an hour. Always follow warnings from the Pakistan Meteorological Department and the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Flash Flood Safety Tips

Before the rain

Check the forecast and official alerts before travelling to rivers, hills, valleys and mountain resorts during the monsoon.
Know the nearest high ground and an escape route from where you live, work or camp.
Do not camp, park or stay in a dry stream bed, a river bank or a low area, even on a sunny day.
Keep a small emergency kit: drinking water, dry food, medicines, a torch, a power bank, a radio and copies of key documents in a waterproof bag.
Clear drains and gutters around your home, and move valuables to higher floors.

During a flash flood

Move to higher ground immediately. Do not wait for more instructions if the water is already rising.
Never walk, swim or drive through flood water. Just 15 cm of fast water can knock you down.
If your car is caught in rising water, leave it and move to higher ground if you can do so safely. A car can be swept away in seconds.
Stay away from bridges over fast water, river banks and drains.
Do not touch electrical wires, poles or appliances in or near water. Turn off the power if it is safe to do so.
Do not go back for belongings or to take photos.

After the flood

Return home only when officials say it is safe.
Avoid flood water. It can carry sewage, chemicals and sharp objects.
Boil or treat drinking water until it is declared safe.
Watch for damaged roads, weak walls, snakes and loose power lines.

Keep watching the sky and the forecast with the live weather, hourly forecast and weather maps on WeatherWorld.

Can Flash Floods Be Predicted?

Forecasters can often tell when the setting is right, for example when heavy rain is expected over steep land or already wet ground, and they issue watches. Radar and rain gauges help them issue a warning when a flood is happening or about to start. The difficulty is that the exact place and time of the heaviest rain are hard to predict. This is why you should take any warning seriously and not wait to see the water yourself.

Learn More

For official flood safety advice, visit the National Weather Service flood safety page. To understand how the same storms form, read about atmospheric pressure and what a tornado is, and see how a rainbow forms for the calm that often follows.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a flash flood in simple words?

A flash flood is a sudden flood that rises very quickly, usually within a few hours of heavy rain. It can happen with little or no warning.

How does a flash flood happen?

Heavy rain falls faster than the ground can absorb. The extra water runs downhill, gathers in streams and drains, and rises quickly.

How fast can a flash flood happen?

It can start within minutes of heavy rain and reach its peak within a few hours. It can also arrive from rain that fell many kilometres upstream.

Can a flash flood happen when it is not raining?

Yes. The rain may be falling in hills far away, or a dam or ice dam may have failed. The water then reaches you under a clear sky.

Why are cities at risk of flash floods?

Roads and roofs do not absorb water, so almost all the rain runs off. Blocked or small drains cannot carry it away, and streets and underpasses flood.

What should I do if I am driving and see a flooded road?

Turn around and find another route. Do not drive through flood water, because the road may be damaged and the water may be deeper and faster than it looks.

What is the difference between a flash flood and a normal flood?

A flash flood rises within minutes to hours and is very fast and violent. A normal river flood builds more slowly, often over days, and gives more warning time.

Final Thoughts

A flash flood is a fast, powerful and often silent danger. It needs only heavy rain, steep or hard ground and a narrow path for the water. You cannot stop one, but you can stay out of its way. Check the forecast before you travel in the hills during the monsoon, keep away from streams and dry channels when rain is near, and move to higher ground at the first warning sign. Remember the simple rule: turn around, don’t drown.

Stay safe in heavy rain: check the live weather, hourly forecast and weather maps on WeatherWorld.