Monsoon completely withdraws from Nepal

Published On: October 17, 2016 12:20 AM NPT By: Ram Saran Tamang


KATHMANDU, Oct 17: Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) has officially announced the end of this year's monsoon in Nepal which had entered the country on July 15.

The monsoon of 2016, which had already withdrawn from the western and central region of Nepal on October 12, has completely withdrawn from the remaining parts of the country on October 16, according to a press statement issued on Sunday by MFD which falls under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM).

“The easterly wind from the Bay of Bengal which carries moistures that brings rains to Nepal has now stopped. With this, the last of the moist clouds have finally bid farewell to the country. We are now having dry westerly wind, marking the complete withdrawal of monsoon from the country,” informed Raju Pradhananga, senior meteorologist at the MFD.

Although the normal withdrawal date of monsoon is September 23, the monsoon this year was delayed by 22 days. 

However, this is not the first time the country experienced delay in withdrawal of monsoon.

The MFD reports show that monsoon withdrawal has been significantly pushed back since 1998. Even in last year, the monsoon withdrawal took place on October 4, which was 11 days late than the normal withdrawal date.

“If we are to look back at the trend of monsoon withdrawal of the country, we can see that the withdrawal has been shifted to October since 1998. One of the reasons for the delay can be climate change, but various other factors can also come in to play,” said meteorologist Pradhananga.

“For instance, the date of onset of monsoon and withdrawal should be revised every 10 years, but it hasn't been done,” he added.

Although the normal date of onset of monsoon is June 10, the monsoon started five days late this year, on June 15. Nonetheless, most of the areas in the country received normal rainfall.


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