KATHMANDU: The late arrived monsoon is going to be over in usual time this year with less rainfall compared to previous seasons. The monsoon this year arrived 13 days late than the normal time prompting to cause drought in various parts of the country. “This is not the first time we received monsoon late but we faced a long drought which adversely affected paddy plantation,” said Saraju Kumar Baidya, the senior meteorologist of Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM). According to the data of DHM, the wettest month July became second wettest and August, the second wettest stood first as the country received most of rainfall in August this year. “We received less rainfall in July then previous years. Record rain fall was recorded in Dadeldhura, Dhangadhi and Dipayal in the Far-Western Region and Dang in Mid-West, with 226.2 mm, 269.4 mm, 183.9 mm and 155.6 mm rainfall respectively in August,” said Baidya. He also attributed such type of extreme weather condition and irregularities to the impacts of climate change. Normally, monsoon starts from June 10 and ends on September 23 in Nepal. “Although the duration is a rough estimation, if the monsoon doesn’t occur within a week or so, then we have to worry,” said Baidha. He also said this year’s summer was found to be warmer than normal. “The entire country remained warmer than normal in July and August and there is no doubt that the temperature is increasing every year, posing a number of threats,” said Baidya.

Monsoon: onset and exit

Year Onset Exit 2005 June 20 September 29 2006 June 1 October 9 2007 June 7 September 17 2008 June 10 September 20 2009 June 23 Not ended yet