Although the loss of life in Bangladesh is greatest for tropical cyclones, and tornadoes can also be devastating, every year there are routinely many deaths from thunderstorm winds. These storms are called nor'westers or kalbaisakhis. They are accompanied by great agricultural losses and interruptions to infrastructure.

Our analysis of storm climatology and effects is based on storm details from 1955 to the present. These have been extracted from Dhaka newspapers and Bangladeshi government reports.

The climatological characteristics show a predominance for April-May during the night. There has been a strong interannual variation in occurrence and impacts. It is not however uncommon for the yearly death toll to exceed 100 with thousands of people left homeless. The Chittagong Hill Tracts (southeastern appendage of Bangladesh) have been least affected.

Specific storm events are illustrated with surface data, hourly satellite imagery and newspaper reports.