March 3: The pre-monsoon spell has commenced in Nepal recently with winter coming to an end. The winter this time was less cold and brought little rainfall than estimated. Although the pre-monsoon period started from last Friday, it will take some days more for the pre-monsoon to become fully active, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.    
Today's cloudy weather is the first such case after the onset of the pre-monsoon period, sad Rojan Lamichhane, a meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division. He said the recent cloudy weather is mainly due to the Westerly wind and the moisture-laden wind from the Arabian Sea.    
According to him, the weather is much cloudy in Lumbini, Bagmati, Gandaki and Karnali provinces while it is less cloudy in the Sudurpaschim, Koshi and Madhes provinces at present. He further said the latter provinces will also witness cloudy conditions as the clouds have been advancing towards these provinces. This trend will increase until tonight and the weather will improve gradually from tomorrow.    
Meteorologist Lamichhane shared that the western region will witness more cloudy condition tonight. Kathmandu is receiving light rainfall since today morning while snowfall has been reported in Humla and other high-altitude areas of the country
The winter this year lasted from November 2, 2023 to February 29, 2024. Although the winter is gone, the influence of Westerly wind still remains, according to the division. -- RSS