A cloudburst is an extreme amount of precipitation, sometimes with hail and thunder, which normally lasts no longer than a few minutes but is capable of creating flood conditions. Colloquially, the term cloudburst may be used to describe any sudden heavy, brief, and usually unforecast rainfall.Meteorologists say the rain fall rate equal to or greater than 100 mm (3.94 inches) per hour is a cloudburst.The associated convective cloud, can extend up to a height of 15 km above the ground.
During a cloudburst, more than 20 mm of rain may fall in a few minutes. When there are instances of cloudbursts, the results can be disastrous. Cloudburst also responsible for Flash flood creation.
Rapid precipitation from cumulonimbus clouds is possible due to so called Langmuir precipitation process in which large droplets can grow rapidly by coagulating with smaller droplets which fall down slowly.
