Dr. Jeff Masters' WunderBlog

Torrential rains of 40+ inches deluge Thailand

Posted by: Dr. Jeff Masters, 16:47 GMT le 31 Mars 2011

Torrential rains in excess of 40 inches (1.016 meters) deluged Thailand's Malay Peninsula this week, triggering floods that have killed at least 17 people. The floods submerged 61 major highways, affected 840,000 people, and forced the helicopter rescue of thousands of stranded tourists. Late March is usually a fairly dry time of year for Thailand, but near-record cold air settled in over the region this week, dropping temperatures to 5 - 10°C (9 - 18°F) below average. Heavy storms accompanied the cold air, and downpours with rainfall rates of up to 2 inches/hour affected the region for many days in a row. Sea surface temperatures of the waters surrounding the flood regions were near average, but were plenty warm enough to supply copious moisture to feed the storms. Flood recovery will slowed by additional moderately heavy rains of 3 - 5 inches expected to fall over the flooded region during the next week, according to the latest precipitation forecast from the GFS model.

Figure 1. The Multisatellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA) analysis above was made using data that were calibrated using data from NASA's TRMM satellite. This analysis shows that rainfall for the past week over the Malay Peninsula was particularly extreme with totals of almost 1200 mm (~47 inches). TRMM satellite data revealed that rainfall in that area was frequently falling at a rate of over 50 mm/hr (~2 inches/hr). Image credit: NASA.

Jeff Masters

Categories: Flood

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401. spathy 04:17 GMT le 01 avril 2011
Quoting CosmicEvents: NO! No numbers. That'll complicate everything. I'm averting my eyes. Take it away..... Too fun folks. Time to call it an evening. Looks like my only chance at some heavy rains is going to scoot just to the North of me. And I put out every water tight container I had to capture it!. Oh well... At least I captured what little fell this evening. I will put it to good use later. Nightall :O) Member Since: 8 juin 2008 Posts: 65 Comments: 10474

402. TomTaylor 04:31 GMT le 01 avril 2011
Quoting TampaSpin: Sorry for the delay, i had to walk the dogs. Honestly i can't answer that, but i believe it is areas of Lower Pressure compared to the surroundings. Not sure tho. no problemo. and ok thanks Member Since: 24 août 2010 Posts: 18 Comments: 3886

403. Jedkins01 04:38 GMT le 01 avril 2011
Quoting RastaSteve: If you are referring to me then you are wrong as the reason said that is because I saw the wind velocities on the NWS site and it was showing a solid line of 70 mph heading for the Nature Coast of FL. The damage in my area is very bad and there are still tens of thousands without power since yesterday. Never seen anything like this other than the hurricanes of 2004. Some on here flat out need to get a grip. It is sad to see how some act on here. I am very passionate when it comes to wx and i think some get offended if we talk about weather other than politics which seems to be an ongoing depressing political battle nearly everyday. I am completely agree! Member Since: 21 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 5322

404. atmoaggie 04:47 GMT le 01 avril 2011
new blog Member Since: 16 août 2007 Posts: 6 Comments: 12461

405. Jedkins01 04:50 GMT le 01 avril 2011
Quoting RastaSteve: I even heard people stuck on I-4 this morning in Seminole County calling into the radio station i listen to crying because they were stuck on I-4 and the car was being moved by the wind while they were at a dead stop. Amazing power these storms had. I saw the pics from Tampa and I pray that those families can recover from their losses. The damage in Tampa is severe from what I can tell. The damage is down right extensive here in Pinellas, as tornadoes often do around here, they jump around a lot. Apparently the tornado was coming right at me then went up into the cloud then came back as another tornado on the other side. I am so thankful we didn't get the tornado itself, the damage is crazy enough right around here, its a complete mess. However the tornado damage is much worse. Member Since: 21 août 2008 Posts: 0 Comments: 5322

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