In Nar village of Manang, a high-altitude district located in the western region, three local cattle herders are said to be missing in an avalanche that occurred on Monday morning.

Police identified the two as Ghyalchok Lama, 30, and Phurwa Lama, 47, from Nar-4, while details about the third are unknown. The incident came to light on Tuesday.

The Annapurna Circuit, one of the famous trekking routes, has been closed in view of torrential rains and snowfall. The maximum day temperature in Kathmandu suddenly dropped from 27 degrees Celsius on Monday to 17 on Tuesday due to rainfall over the past 24 hours. The Valley received 52.4 millimetre rain.

High-altitude districts of Rasuwa, Myagdi, Mustang, Manang, Gorkha and most districts in Karnali Zone saw first snowfall in October. Two inches of snow was seen in Limi village of Humla. Dolpa faced snowstorm on Monday.

Rains in Dang, Bardiya and Surkhet districts in the mid-western region that were devastated by floods in summer affected relief distribution and rehabilitation efforts.

A dozen meteorological stations in central and western regions recorded rainfall between 157.2 mm and 1.4 mm in the past 24 hours. Precipitation was recorded also in Janakpur and Jiri. Bhairahawa received 157.2 mm rain, the highest, followed by Pokhara (90.2 mm), Simara (65.3 mm), Jumla (57.9mm), Dadeldhura (39.1 mm), Nepalgunj (38.5 mm) and Dang (29.8 mm).

“The weather is likely to improve in the West from Wednesday with chances of moderate to heavy rains in some isolated places in the region. The East may receive rains from Tuesday night,” said Barun Paudel, a meteorologist with the Meteorological Forecasting Division. It would take up to three days for the clouds to clear.

A special bulletin released by the Indian Meteorological Division on Tuesday afternoon warned heavy (650-1240 mm) to very heavy showers (1250-2440 mm) over east Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim until Wednesday. This indicates that the bordering districts in Nepal will see moderate to heavy rains in the period.

Dozens of flights cancelled

Nearly 70 domestic and international flights were cancelled on Tuesday due to gusty winds and heavy rainfall caused by Hudhud, the cyclone in the eastern coast of India that has affected the weather pattern in Nepal.

According to domestic airlines operators, all mountain view flights and flights on the Pokhara-Kathmandu-Pokhara sector were cancelled. Buddha Air and Yeti Airlines were forced to cancel 20 flights each, while Simrik Airlines called off 15 flights.

Tara Air cancelled 10 flights on its mid- and far-western sectors. However, the weather did not disrupt flights on the Kathmandu-Lukla sector. Tara Air officials said 23 flights were operated between Kathmandu and Lukla on Tuesday. A Buddha Air official said they had to cancel 50 percent flights on Tuesday, a majority of them on the Kathmandu-Pokhara route.

Rough weather forced three international carriers—Jet Airways, Air India and Buddha Air—to cancel their scheduled flights.

China Eastern Airlines and Etihad planes were diverted to Lucknow after poor visibility made their landing at the TIA impossible, airport officials said.

Domestic carriers cancelled one-third of their flights—12,675—last year because of heavy rain, high winds or blinding fog.

Domestic operators estimate that cancellation of a long-haul flight causes a loss of Rs 300,000 to Rs 400,000 depending on the number of fliers. (PR)

Domestic

Buddha Air.....................20

Yeti Airlines....................20

Simrik Airlines................15

Tara Air...........................10

International

Jet Airways.....................1

Air India..........................1

Buddha Air......................1

China Eastern..................diverted

Etihad Airways.................diverted