The Himalayan district of Manang received incessant snowfall for 12 hours, with the temperature plummeting to minus 20 degrees Celsius on Friday.

According to locals, the snowfall was not heavy. But normal life in the district has been affected due to extreme cold, Yangdung Gurung of Upper Pisang, Disyang Rural Municipality-1 of Manang district said.

Several places of the district have been blanketed with snow. He said there was two-three feet snow in the area.

Gurung said Manang received snowfall from Thursday evening to Friday morning. The snow has started to melt from this afternoon.

“We came out of the house after the sun shone. We cannot stay out of the house for a long time after the sun goes down,” he said.

According to Chief District Officer Rudra Nath Devkota, Disyang, Narapabhumi, Chame and Naso Rural Municipality of the district received snowfall on Thursday and Friday.

Though snowfall occurred near the settlement in Naso, it did not reach the settlement.

Devkota said that the temperature had reached minus 19 degrees Celsius at 6 am today. The temperature of the district in the afternoon was minus 13 degrees Celsius.

“The continuous snowfall for 10-12 hours has increased cold extremely,” he said, adding, “Imagine how the weather has affected normal life in the district as the temperature in the district is minus 13 even during the sunshine.”

He said that there was four inch snow near the Humde Airport.

“The snowflakes started falling like flower blossoming. After the snow stopped the wind started blowing from different directions. The cold increased suddenly after the sun went down at 2 pm,” he said.

According to conservationist Lal Babu Tiruwa of the Area Conservation Office, Manang of Annapurna Conservation Area Project, the snowfall occurred in the Upper Manang from 6 pm Thursday.

He said the temperature dropped to minus 20 degrees Celcius at 4 am on Friday.  The temperature has started to decrease from 6 pm on Thursday.

The flow of tourists has also declined due to the cold.

“Around 25-30 tourists come to the district on the daily basis. We have urged the tourists to remain alert of cold and snowfall,” he said.

Tiruwa said that the tourists are still going to Thorong La pass and Tilicho Lake.

“We have urged them to go towards their destinations only during the good weather. We have informed them about the weather. We have urged the tourists who are heading towards Upper Manang to not walk during the snowfall,” he said.