Hem Dulal

Kathmandu, May 27:

The country will have to wait for another four to five days to be blessed with the first spell of the monsoon rains of the year, according to the Meteorological Forecasting Division. “The weather charts are indicative of a delayed onset of the monsoon over the southern part of the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea. As a result, this phenomenon may consequently result in a delay of about 4 to 5 days,” said Bijay Kumar Baidhya, the acting deputy director general of the division. The monsoon usually descends on the eastern part of the country by June 10. The official, however, added that brief afternoon or night pre-monsoon thundershowers are very likely in the hilly regions. Meanwhile, a temperature of 33.2 degrees Celsius was recorded in the Valley today, the maximum so far this year. So

far, the maximum temperature ever recorded in the capital has been 36.6 degrees Celsius. And, that was on May 7, 1989.

“As yet, no major change in the current weather is expected over the next couple of days, except for a few evening thundershowers at one or two places in the mountainous region,” Baidhya said. According to the division, the weather throughout the country, except at a few places in the eastern hilly region, has remained dry during the past few days. This dry spell has resulted in the soaring day time temperature mostly in the far-western, western and central regions of the country.