Kathmandu gripped with winter

Guns n’ Roses might have gone platinum with a single about a fictional November rain, but Kathmandu residents on Monday were dealt an unrelenting helping of a December downpour that saw mercury plummet to around 4 degrees. Kathmanduities today could be seen trudging through the sludge on the streets while the number of vehicles plying the road was visibly reduced.

Tosay’s rain marks the beginning of a season change towards winter. The chief cause of the rain is a "Western Disturbance".The weather itself will gradually improve in the coming days.

According to the Meteorology department, the afternoon's temperature will hover around 16-17 degrees while it will gradually plummet in the coming days. According to weather.msn.com weather report, Kathmandu's current temperature (10.45 GMT, 3.45 NST) is 15°C. The rain is still pouring and expected to last till tonight. This is the first winter rain of the year.

Morning downpours have been reported in other parts of the country as well. The minimum temperature in Jiri today reached 0.5 below zero while that in Jumla was -2.0 degrees. Likewise, thermometers read 10.2, 8.2 and 12.6 in Pokhara, Nepalgunj and Biratnagar implying a higher temperature drop in the western region as compared to the east.

With inputs from : ekantipur.com