National
Country swelters as monsoon misses date
The country may have to wait for a few more days for the monsoon to arrive, the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) said on Monday.The country may have to wait for a few more days for the monsoon to arrive, the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) said on Monday.
Earlier on June 3, the MFD had forecast this year’s monsoon arrival prior to the onset date of June 10.
The MFD attributed the delay to the presence of the well-marked low pressure system in northern Bay of Bengal, which has prevented the rain-carrying winds from blowing towards north. “We had expected early arrival of monsoon this year. But we have seen a well-marked low pressure system developed over the Bay of Bengal in the last few days, which has halted the monsoon’s movement towards Nepal,” said Subash Rimal, a meteorologist at the MFD. “Monsoon should have moved towards Nepal by now, but the sluggish movement of low pressure area has delayed its arrival.”
Nepal receives its 80 per cent of rainfall during the monsoon which starts usually starts on June 10 and stays until September 23. The average annual rainfall in Nepal is 1,600mm.
Slight delay in monsoon arrival is not bigger cause for concern, said Rimal, adding that those farmers who have already planted paddy, however, may face some difficulties.
With the country missing its monsoon date, parts of the countries are experiencing extremely hot conditions, with Nepalgunj, according to the MFD, recording maximum temperature of 39 degrees Celsius. Maximum temperature in Dipayal, Bhairahawa, Biratnagar and Janakpur hovered around 36 degrees Celsius.
Kathmandu recorded 31.5 and 19.6 degrees Celsius maximum and minimum temperatures on Monday, the MFD said.