Weather Department Dismisses Rumours of Three Days of Torrential Rain

Nepal's weather authorities have dismissed viral social media rumours predicting catastrophic downpours later this week, clarifying that while an atmospheric system will bring cooler conditions and sporadic precipitation starting Thursday, no extreme rain events are in the forecast.

The Department of Hydrology and Meteorology issued a public advisory on Tuesday rejecting widespread claims that severe, non-stop downpours would batter the country for three days beginning Asoj 17 (October 3). According to a report by Onlinekhabar, the department moved to quell public anxiety after receiving numerous enquiries from concerned citizens. The Meteorological Forecasting Division stated that it had issued no such warning, noted that national weather patterns show no indications of such an extreme disturbance, and urged the public to rely exclusively on official notices.

While major downpours have been ruled out, forecasters note that normal autumn weather variations will develop across the country later in the week. Meteorologist Binod Pokharel told Nagarik News that an upper-tropospheric trough moving over Nepal will introduce increased cloud cover from Thursday (Asoj 15), bringing a noticeable drop in temperatures alongside light rain and high-altitude snowfall across the mid-hills and Himalayan regions into next week. Pokharel stressed that the incoming system is standard for the season and gives no cause for alarm.

Official projections from the Meteorological Forecasting Division indicate that the Tarai plains will stay largely fair throughout the week. Over Wednesday and Thursday, partly to generally cloudy skies are expected across the hilly and mountainous tracts of Koshi, Bagmati, and Gandaki provinces, with isolated locations likely to see light showers and snowfall, while western provinces will see similar conditions at one or two places.

The clarification comes on the heels of an active precipitation cycle over the previous weekend. As reported by Nepal Watch, a wet front brought heavy to very heavy rainfall across Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali, and Sudurpashchim provinces on September 26, with the weather station at Bharse in Gulmi recording 114 millimetres of rainfall in the span of 12 hours.

Skies over the capital cleared on Sunday evening after three days of steady rain, Nagarik News reported, treating Kathmandu Valley residents to rare, unobstructed sunset views of snow-dusted Himalayan peaks from the capital before calmer conditions settled across the region.