Valentine's Snow in Kathmandu

Valentine's Snow in Kathmandu

Kathmandu Valley witnessed the first snowfall in 63 years on Wednesday morning which brought people out into the streets, school children ran out of their classrooms and the mobile phone system was paralysed for an hour as people started calling each other.

View of snow-covered Champadevi Hill near Thankot in Kathmandu Valley, as seen from Naya Baneshwor, after incessant rainfall on Wednesday, Feb 14 07. nepalnews.com/rh

The snow was part of a westerly disturbance that had earlier dumped about 20 mm of rain all over Nepal. The last time there was rain in Kathmandu was in the year 2000 BS when there was five inches of snow.

The temperature hovered at 7 degrees all day Wednesday, but this wasn't cold enough for the snow to accumulate in the Valley. However, the hills surrounding Kathmandu had snow down to 1,900 m with roofs in Thankot, Dakshinkali and even Budalnilkantha with accumulation.

Talking to Nepalnews, senior Divisional Meteorologist of the Meteorological Forecasting Division, Krishna Bahadur Manandhar said the temperature of Kathmandu Valley is 3 degree Celsius and if the temperature goes down to minus, the snow will freeze. However, there is no possibility of the snow freezing as the weather condition is improving gradually, he said.

Continuous rain affects normal life

Normal life across the country has been badly affected Wednesday due to incessant rain while Kathmandu Valley and many other hilly areas have witnessed snowfall.

Some of the western and eastern hilly districts and mountainous regions have witnessed heavy snowfall following continuous rain. Two to three feet thick snow has been recorded in several parts of the country.

The district headquarters of western Baglung, Myagdi and Parbat districts saw snowfall for the first time. Schools in remote parts of these hilly districts remain closed due to rain and snowfall.

Some places around Kathmandu Valley like Phulchoki, Godavari and Nagarkot have been covered with snow, inviting hundreds of merrymakers and Valentine's Day celebrators from Kathmandu .

In Dolakha, all the schools remain closed for a week following snowfall in the area.

The late winter downpour has brought the air transport to a halt. No domestic flights were operated today, officials at the Tribhuvan Airport said.

In the last 24 hours, Bhairawaha had the highest rainfall of 98.5 mm. Likewise, Birendranagar witnessed 92.3 mm, Pokhara 79.9 mm while Kathmandu had some 20mm rainfall.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division said the entire nation was overcast today while showers are likely to continue throughout tomorrow. nepalnews.com pb Feb 14 07