Rain ends 4-month Nepal drought

After suffering a four-month drought since the end of the monsoon last year, a westerly front finally dumped snow in the higher reaches of the Nepal Himalaya on Friday.

At lower altitudes, farmers greeted the welcome rain which moistened wheat, mustard and other winter crops. The rain also cleared the thick fog that had engulfed the Nepal Tarai for the past month.

The precipitation was not heavy, but it doused some of the devastating wildfires that had ravaged forests across central and western Nepal since December. A forest fire in Manang had been raging for two months.  

There was nearly 1m of snow overnight in Khaptad National Park, and the flurries down to 2,800 m in Mustang, Manang and Kaski. Ghorepani viewpoint on the Annapurna Trek also got heavy snowfall overnight. Humla started getting snowfall on Thursday evening itself, and it continued all night and into Friday.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology has predicted more precipitation over central and eastern Nepal into Saturday, with the weather clearing up after that.  

The frontal system is moving eastward, and is expected to bring rain to Kathmandu Valley by evening. The rain had not arrived in the capital while Prime Miniter K P Oli’s political rally was going on in Darbar Marg on Friday afternoon, although there was a stiff breeze.

Read also: Wildfires ravage Nepal mountains, Nepali Times