The Daulatpur–Saturia tornado was an intense
tornado
A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...
that occurred in
Manikganj District, Bangladesh on April 26, 1989. While it was destructive and extremely deadly, there is great uncertainty about the death toll. Official estimates from the
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
indicate that it killed approximately 1,300 people, which would make it the
deadliest tornado in history.
In 2022, this tornado's status as the deadliest tornado in history was challenged, claiming it did not kill more than 256 people.
The tornado affected the cities of
Daulatpur and
Saturia the most, moving east through Daulatpur and eventually northeast into Saturia.
Previously, the area that the tornado hit had been in a state of drought for six months.
Background
The
Ganges Basin
The Ganges ( ; in India: Ganga, ; in Bangladesh: Padma, ). "The Ganges Basin, known in India as the Ganga and in Bangladesh as the Padma, is an international which goes through India, Bangladesh, Nepal and China." is a trans-boundary rive ...
, comprising the entirety of Bangladesh, is frequented by severe weather.
Storms that are capable of producing tornadoes in this region are most common during the pre- and post-
monsoon
A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...
months.
An average of six tornadoes occur annually in Bangladesh, with peak activity in April. The pre-monsoon months (March to May) display the most favorable conditions for severe weather. During this time,
convective available potential energy—an indicator of
atmospheric instability
Atmospheric instability is a condition where the Earth's atmosphere is considered to be unstable and as a result local weather is highly variable through distance and time. Atmospheric instability encourages vertical motion, which is directly cor ...
whereby higher values denote a greater likelihood of thunderstorms—and
wind shear
Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
are conducive to the development of rotating thunderstorms. Instability is greatest over
West Bengal
West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
, India, and adjacent areas of Bangladesh. Storms frequently develop in this region and travel southeast across the country. These storms are locally referred to as norwesters or
Kalbaisakhi
A ''kalbaisakhi'' (, ; , ), also known as ''bordoisila'' () and in some English publications as a nor'wester, is a localised rainfall and thunderstorm event which occurs in Bangladesh as well as the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tri ...
.
Event and aftermath
On 25 April 1989, a
area of low pressure
In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...
propagated over
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
and West Bengal, India, with a
trough
Trough may refer to:
In science
* Trough (geology), a long depression less steep than a trench
* Trough (meteorology), an elongated region of low atmospheric pressure
* Trough (physics), the lowest point on a wave
* Trough level (medicine), the l ...
extending east across Bangladesh and into
Manipur
Manipur () is a state in northeastern India with Imphal as its capital. It borders the Indian states of Assam to the west, Mizoram to the south, and Nagaland to the north and shares the international border with Myanmar, specifically t ...
, India. The system remained largely stationary throughout the day through 26 April. On that day, another low approached from
Madhya Pradesh
Madhya Pradesh (; ; ) is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and the largest city is Indore, Indore. Other major cities includes Gwalior, Jabalpur, and Sagar, Madhya Pradesh, Sagar. Madhya Pradesh is the List of states and union te ...
, and in conjunction with a
ridge
A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...
over China, the
pressure gradient
In hydrodynamics and hydrostatics, the pressure gradient (typically of air but more generally of any fluid) is a physical quantity that describes in which direction and at what rate the pressure increases the most rapidly around a particular locat ...
became tighter across Bangladesh. Warm, moist air flowed northeast from the
Bay of Bengal
The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region.
Many South Asian and Southe ...
while cool, dry air flowed south from the
Himalayas
The Himalayas, or Himalaya ( ), is a mountain range in Asia, separating the plains of the Indian subcontinent from the Tibetan Plateau. The range has some of the Earth's highest peaks, including the highest, Mount Everest. More than list of h ...
. In the upper-levels of the atmosphere above the low, strong westerly winds from the
jet stream
Jet streams are fast flowing, narrow thermal wind, air currents in the Earth's Atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere.
The main jet streams are located near the altitude of the tropopause and are westerly winds, flowing west to east around the gl ...
created ample
wind shear
Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
, a key factor in the development of
supercell thunderstorms capable of producing tornadoes. The jet stream became particularly intense on 26 April, with a
sounding from
Dhaka
Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...
observing winds at a height of . An established
dry line
A dry line (also called a dew point line, or Marfa front, after Marfa, Texas) is a line across a continent that separates moist air and dry air. One of the most prominent examples of such a separation occurs in central North America, especially ...
over western Bangladesh served as a focal point for thunderstorm development. By 12:00 UTC, all the aforementioned factors served to produce severe thunderstorms across the country.
Around 12:30 UTC, a tornado touched down near Daulatpur in the Manikganj District and traveled east, soon striking Saturia. It caused tremendous damage across a area covering three
upazilas, with Saturia being hardest-hit.
Its path was about long.
A
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
news letter noted the tornado as F3 on the
Fujita Scale
The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...
. However, the stated wind estimate of would rank it as an F4.
According to the
World Meteorological Organization
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for promoting international cooperation on atmospheric science, climatology, hydrology an ...
in 2017, the tornado killed roughly 1,300 people and injured 12,000.
In 2022, this death toll was challenged in a paper authored by Dr. Fahim Sufi with the
Australian Government
The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...
, Dr. Edris Alam with the
University of Chittagong
The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...
, and Dr. Musleh Alsulami with the
Umm al-Qura University
Umm al-Qura University (UQU; ) is a public university in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The university was established as the College of Sharia (Islamic law) in 1949 during the reign of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud before being joined by new colleges and rena ...
, where it was stated the deadliest tornado in Bangladesh history was the 14 April 1969 Dhaka, Bangladesh tornado, which killed 922 people.
This new publication still keeps a Bangladesh tornado as the deadliest in history, just not this specific tornado.
Damage was extensive, as countless trees were uprooted and every home within a six square kilometer area of the tornado's path was completely destroyed.
An article in the ''Bangladesh Observer'' stated, "The devastation was so complete, that barring some skeletons of trees, there were no signs of standing infrastructures".
Approximately 80,000 people were left homeless.
A second tornado struck the
Narsingdi District
Narsingdi District () is a district in central Bangladesh. It is located 50 km north-east of Dhaka, the Bangladeshi capital. It is a part of Dhaka Division. The district is famous for its textile craft industry. Narsingdi is bordered by Kish ...
, killing 5 people and injuring 500 others.
See also
*
1925 tri-state tornado
In the midday and afternoon hours of Wednesday, March 18, 1925, the deadliest tornado in United States history and second-deadliest worldwide moved through Eastern Missouri, Southern Illinois and Southern Indiana, killing 695 people and injur ...
– The deadliest tornado recorded in the United States
*
1996 Bangladesh tornado
*
2013 Brahmanbaria tornado
*
List of Asian tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
*
Lists of tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
These are some notable tornadoes, tornado outbreaks, and tornado outbreak sequences that have occurred around the globe.
# ''Exact death and injury counts are not possible; especially for large events and events before 1955.''
# ''Prior to 1950 ...
References
External links
Bangladesh and East India tornado prediction site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Daulatpur-Saturia tornado
Tornadoes in Bangladesh
Tornadoes of 1989
April 1989 in Bangladesh
1989 disasters in Asia