KATHMANDU, DEC 31 - The cold wave that has been gnawing Nepal’s western and central plains for the past couple of days is likely to continue for "some time" before possibly moving on to the eastern Terai belt, according to Weather Forecasting Division (WFD) at the Tribhuvan International Airport."The chilly spell resulting from cold wave in the western and far-western Terai will continue for some time, a few more days, and may move to the eastern Terai," Krishna Bhakta Manandhar, a senior meteorologist at the WFD, told The Kathmandu Post this evening.
Manandhar also added that the cold wave, which is an after-effect of the westerly disturbances that had brought cloudy and rainy spell across the country for the past couple of days during the weekend, is likely to move towards the eastern plains as it has the tendency of shifting eastward.
As a winter phenomenon in the plains of Nepal, India and Bangladesh since 1997, cold wave is the condition of the decrease in temperature for a prolonged period due to fog accumulation accompanied by the flow of cold breeze.
Consequently, more than 60 people died of the bone-chilling one-month-long cold spell in Nepal whereas about 2,000 people had died in South Asia last year.
According to WFD reports today, there was no respite from the cold and foggy condition in the western and far-western Terai belt, with temperature about 7 degree Celsius less than the normal.
Dhangadi, Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, among other places in the western Terai to the west of Simara, had a foggy day even today. The mercury there was around 12 to 13 degrees Celsius at noon today. The places normally register 18 to 20 degrees Celsius around afternoons in winter.
Meanwhile, places above 10,000 feet are receiving heavy snowfall due to westerly disturbances.Posted on: 2004-01-01 05:00

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