Weather expected to clear from Tuesday

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Apr. 3: The current spell of rainfall experienced on Saturday and Sunday is expected to clear from Tuesday. 

Dr. Binod Pokharel, Associate Professor at the Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in Tribhuvan University, said that this rainfall is isolated and the weather will be clear from Tuesday. 

The various parts of the Valley received moderate rainfall whereas Chandragari received sleet on Saturday. Sleet is simply frozen raindrops and occurs when the layer of freezing air along the surface is thicker. This causes the raindrops to freeze before reaching the ground, said Dr. Binod Pokharel, Associate Professor at the Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology in Tribhuvan University.

The current system already ended on Saturday but the remaining moisture as well as local disturbance is bringing light to moderate rainfall in some of the areas of the Valley, Dr. Pokharel said. This rainfall is isolated and the weather will be clear from Tuesday, he added.

“This does not look like pre-monsoon showers as the pre-monsoon rains occur with lightning and thunderstorms. These showers decrease the temperature which are likely to occur during the winter season. This is not the right time for this type of rain. 

But the temperature surge from Tuesday,” he said.

According to Sameer Shrestha, a senior meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), the present shower is caused by the development of the convicted system on the air. “There is a trough (trough is an extended area of relatively low pressure extending from the centre of a region of low pressure) in the upper air, due to this, a few areas in the Valley are receiving rainfall,” he said.

The rumours of snowfall in Chndragiri on Saturday were not accurate because the temperature should remain below 0 degrees for snowfall and the minimum temperature in the Valley on Saturday was measured at 8 degrees Celsius, Shrestha informed.

Systems will develop frequently during the pre-monsoon season as there will be no long system as in winter. “Frequent isolated shower is normal during this season and the heat from the morning to afternoon will form as moisture in the atmosphere to cause rainfall in the evening,” he said.

Sajana Shakya, meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division 

said that at present there is a partial to normal shower in the hilly areas of the country, while the rest of the country is experiencing isolated rainfall.

For Monday, the weather will be generally clear in the rest of the country with partial to normal rains in the hilly areas of the country including the Sudhurpaschim Province. 

There is a possibility of light and momentary rain with thunder and lightning at a few places in the hilly areas of Koshi and Gandaki Provinces and at one or two places in the hilly areas of Bagmati, Karnali and Sudurpaschim, Sakya said.

Tanahun received the highest rainfall measured at 38 mm in the last 24 hours. Gorkha, Solukhumbu, Taplejung, Lalitpur, Morang, Sankhuwasabha and Jhapa received above 10 mm of rainfall during this period.

Kathmandu remained at its lowest 8 degrees Celsius and highest 26 degrees Celsius on Sunday.