March 01, 2010 at 7:20PM Glimpse of Hailstones Observed in Kalopul, Kathmandu, Nepal

@The Kathmandu Post:
Here comes the spring. Rainfall on Monday evening coupled with hailstones sounded the bell bidding gloomy winter adieu and welcoming the sunny side of weather.

Weathermen say, the rainfall and hail on Monday in the Capital and thunderstorms in some central parts of the country heralded the pre-monsoon season.

“Heat in the last few days had created vapour in the atmosphere and the condensation resulted in thunderstorm, rainfall and hailstones,” says Mani Ratna Shakya, Division Chief at the Meteorological Forecasting Division.

The westerly disturbance from the Bay of Bengal has also resulted in thunderstorms in neighboring countries.

During the day, which was cloudy since Sunday afternoon, the temperature hovered around 26 degrees Celsius. Due to cloud formation on Sunday afternoon, the minimum temperature of the Capital on Monday morning went up by 2 degrees.

However, a wave of cool breeze followed by rainfall on Monday evening turned the weather pleasant bringing the temperature down. The rainfall and hailstones on Monday are expected to bring the mercury down by a few notches and turn the weather pleasant.

For those staying at home, the cool weather brought cheers, but for pedestrians and commuters, hailstones from the blue slightly played foul.

Traffic in several parts of the city, including in Chandol, Lainachuar and north of the Narayanhiti Museum was disrupted after trees fell due to the sudden thunderstorm, according to the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division.

A motorcycle in Lainchaur, two in Kapurdhara and a car in Jaya Bageshwori were damaged. However, no serious injuries were reported.

“Rain at this time of year is not unusual,” says Shakya. “And rainfall is expected to continue for a few more days, signifying the end of winter and onset of summer as well.”