Thunderstorms and Severe Weather Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The shortest-lived system is the thunderstorm.

A single thunderstorm cell lives for about an hour, passing through its cumulus, mature and dissipating stages, and even organised multicell systems last only a few hours.

Tropical cyclones last from several days to two weeks, western disturbances take days to cross north India, and the winter (north-east) monsoon is a seasonal circulation lasting months.

Answer: C

Nor'westers are common in Assam and Bengal.

In the pre-monsoon months of April and May, violent thunderstorms with squalls, hail and heavy rain approach from the north-west over West Bengal, Odisha and Assam. They are called Nor'westers, Kalbaisakhi (the calamity of Baisakh) in Bengal, and Bordoisila in Assam, and their rain helps tea, jute and rice cultivation.

Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have hot, dry winds (the loo) and dust storms in this season, and the Konkan and Goa coast gets its main rain from the south-west monsoon later.