Kathmandu, June 17

Monsoon usually enters the country by June 10, but even seven days after its normal time of arrival, the Meteorological Forecasting Division has said that it is ‘very likely that the onset of monsoon will not begin for a few more days in the country’.

Monsoon in Nepal is caused by the easterly wind that comes from the Bay of Bengal and enters the country from the southeastern border. But, according to the MFD sufficient amount of wind  has not been recorded till now, as the direction in which the wind is moving in the country is west to east and not the other way around.

Ganga Nagarkoti, meteorologist at the MFD said “All we are receiving is the westerly wind, which means the pre-monsoon season is continuing in the country.”

Kathmandu valley, along with western Nepal, today witnessed black clouds in the sky, and people speculated that monsoon was starting. Heavy rainfall was also recorded in western cities such as Pokhara and isolated rainfall was recorded in a few locations of Kathmandu.

However, many meteorologists that THT talked to said it was a ‘pre-monsoon phenomenon.’ Pre-monsoon is caused by the westerly wind that enters the country through western region.

Another sign of rainy season in the capital is development of monsoon trough in the lower Himalayan range. “We have not recorded any such trough in our system, which means we will still have to wait a few more days for the rainy season to start in the country,” Nagarkoti said. After the monsoon trough is seen below the Himalayan range, it slowly moves towards the southern flat lands and eventually moves out from Nepal normally by September 23, ending the monsoon.

Delayed monsoon has increased the temperature. Kathmandu recorded one of the highest temperatures of 33.5 degrees Celsius a few days ago while, temperature above 40 degrees Celsius at various places in the Tarai belt from the eastern to the western side of the country is being recorded on a daily basis for the past few days.

The rise in temperature can have adverse impact on the agricultural sector as the time for paddy cultivation, the major agro-product of the country is being delayed.

Yubak Dhoj GC, agriculture secretary at the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, said, “If the monsoon is delayed by four to six more days, paddy production can decrease by five to seven per cent overall this year.