According to Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD), maximum temperature in the valley was just 11.5 degree Celsius due to rainfall that started early Tuesday morning. Just 1.5 degree Celsius above was the minimum temperature which was recorded at 10 degree Celsius. “Tuesday turned out to be the coldest day due to sharp fall in maximum temperature,” senior Meteorologist Rajendra Shrestha said. [break]
MFD recorded 20.9 millimeter rainfall in the valley on Tuesday. The heaviest rainfall was recorded in Jumla in the far western region (65.1mm) followed by Dadeldhura (58. 1 mm). There were snowfalls in hilly parts of districts, including Bajhang, Gorkha and Baglung, located at high altitude. Earlier, the Kathmandu valley had experienced 1.9 mm rain on January 14.
Senior meteorologist Shrestha said Tuesday´s sudden change in weather was mainly due to westerly winds coming from Pakistan through Jammu and Kashmir. “As westerly winds entered Nepal through western part of the country, thick clouds started to form in the sky, resulting in sudden mercury drop and rainfalls,” he explained. “Weather has already started to improve slightly in the western region. The eastern region´s weather is expected to return to normalcy with the cease of rain by Wednesday.”
MFD has forecast that the eastern part of the country may experience mercury drop and rainfall for a couple of days from Wednesday. “The westerly wind usually moves eastwards,” Shrestha told myrepublica.com.
Life in Doti, Bajhang and other districts in the Far West has been affected due to chilling cold following massive snowfall.
The heavy snow, which has piled up to three feet, has forced closure of schools, transport and market in Bajhang and has covered fields of crops like wheat and others. Even government offices have been affected.
The snowfall has also forced indefinite closure of Surma Devi Electricity Pvt Ltd in the district. “We have closed the plant fearing damage of machines due to snow,” said the company´s technician Kuber Khadka. Chainpur and six other Village Development Committees (VDC) in the vicinity have also been affected due to the closure.
Locals claim this is the first snowfall in Bajhang headquarters Chainpur. It started snowing since three Tuesday morning following rainfall on Monday. District Police Office, Bajhang said all the VDCs in the district have received snow.
Dhangadhi-Dadeldhura section of Dashrath Chand Highway has been obstructed at Saunkharka due to heavy snow.
Similarly, heavy snow in Mustang and heavy rainfall in other districts of Dhaulagiri zone has affected life in the region. Upper region of Parvat, Baglung and Myagdi has also received snow.
The heavy precipitation has also come as a boon to farmers. “Farmers here were worried due to long drought. The rains have come as a boon to farmers who depend on rainfall for agriculture,” said agriculture development officer of Parvat Chandrakanta Khanal.
(Dil Bahadur Chhatyal from Dhangadhi, Pushpa Raj Joshi from Doti and Dilip Paudel from Baglung contributed to this report.)
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