Snowfall cripples life in Karnali, Jumla and Bajura

KATHMANDU, Jan 28: Waking up to a cold rainy morning on Friday took denizens of Kathmandu Valley by surprise, particularly considering that the weather, a day earlier, was one of the warmest recorded this winter.

The maximum temperature of Kathmandu dipped by 10 degree Celsius after rain showers lasted throughout the day on Friday. The Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) recorded Friday's maximum temperature at just 14 degrees Celsius. Kathmandu's maximum temperature was 24 degrees on Thursday and 23 degrees on Wednesday.

Rain station in Kathmandu recorded 5 mm rainfall on Friday, but MFD said the quantity of rainfall could be much higher in other areas of the capital missed by the station.

According to the MFD, the rains were not unexpected as the same clouds have been affecting Far-western and Western Regions of the country since the past two days. “Those clouds originated in the Mediterranean Sea and first entered the far-western region of the country two days ago from Uttarakhand State of India,” informed meteorologist Samir Shrestha.

According to him, the thick clouds had reached the sky of central region on Thursday evening. “As the clouds are heading eastward in a slow motion, it took them two days to reach the capital.”

He further said that the clouds will cross Kathmandu Valley by Saturday morning, bringing partial sunshine and warmth. “The sky will be partially clear tomorrow.”

Weather in the farwestern and midwestern regions, where the rain had already reached before the central region, remained disturbed on Friday as well. “Mostly hilly areas of the central and eastern regions have been affected by the change in weather,” informed meteorologist Shrestha.

Birendranagar of Surkhet district recorded maximum rainfall at 27.8 mm in the past 24 hours, followed by Jumla and Dang districts, which recorded 20 mm and 16.9 mm of rain respectively, according to MFD, a division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Following two days of thick clouds shrouding the sky, Karnali zone received its first heavy snowfall of this year on Friday. Republica correspondent in Jumla informed that life has been hit hard by the snowfalls. 

Likewise, Bajura also recorded heavy snowfalls on Friday, which is the third of the year in the district. Over a dozen VDCs in the district, including Rugin, Dahakot, Pandusain, Jukot, Manakot, have been hit hard. Life especially in the settlements of the district's mountainous region came to a grinding halt, reports Republica's correspondent in Bajura.

Over a dozen VDCs have been affected by snowfalls in Darchula district as well. Thick snows covered Rapla, Sunsera, Dhaulakot, Ghusa Sheri among other VDCs of the district, dramatically increasing the cold. Although the weather has made it difficult for locals to come out of house, it has brought some respite and happiness to farmers, according to Republic's district correspondent in Darchula.

 
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