Ilam Receives 97.6mm Rain, Sarlahi Gets 88.2mm

Light to heavy rainfall occurred in the Kathmandu Valley and other parts of the country in the last 12 hours, providing some relief to a public reeling under rising air pollution levels resulting from wildfire, dust pollution and an officialdom short of resources to deal with phenomena that occur every year without fail.

David Dhakal, a meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, said Ilam witnessed the heaviest rainfall of the period (97.6mm), followed by Sarlahi (88.2mm).

Westerlies, coupled with local winds and moist air originating from the Bay of Bengal are behind the pre-monsoon rains, Dhakal said.

Light to moderate rainfall along with thunder and lightning is likely in some hilly areas of Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini provinces on April 10-11, according to the division. Higher hills and mountainous areas are also likely to witness light snowfall during the period.

In Bagmati, light snowfall is likely in parts of the Himalayan region this afternoon under generally to partly cloudy skies. Light to moderate rain with thunder and lightning is expected in some hilly areas, while parts of the Tarai may experience similar conditions.

Weather balloons lacking

In response to a question, Dhakal said: Data collection for weather forecast has been going on through the use of weather balloons. But there are not sufficient weather balloons. This shortage has affected weather forecasting.   

   

Dhakal said lack of weather balloons has impacted data collection and weather forecasting.