At around 4 pm on Friday, districts of the Kathmandu Valley—Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur turned almost dark. Other districts, including Dang, Butwal and several others from the Lumbini province witnessed similar conditions.

Strong winds, thunder, hail, lightning, coupled with moderate rain, lashed most parts of the country including districts in the Tarai region.

Vehicles on the streets were forced to turn on their lights due to the darkness. A windstorm caused power outages in many areas, including several parts of Kathmandu. Roads obstruction due to fallen trees and landslides have been reported in Kanti Lokpath highway and several districts.

Schoolgoers and people returning home from office were also affected by the rain and winds. Domestic and international flights were disturbed due to low visibility at the Tribhuvan International Airport. A China Eastern Airlines plane was diverted to Calcutta and an Indigo Airlines plane to Lucknow, India. Several domestic flights to Bhairahawa, Dhangadhi, Bhatarpur and others were cancelled due to bad weather conditions.

The Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology said that moderate rainfall will occur on Saturday as well and some areas will also witness heavy rainfall.

“Western low-pressure systems and local winds caused rainfall throughout the country on Friday,” said Barun Paudel, a senior meteorologist at the Division. “The weather system that developed in the west of the country is moving towards the east, causing rainfall, windstorm, thunder and lightning.”

The ongoing weather phenomenon is part of pre-monsoon activities, which is normal despite the damage caused, according to met officials.

According to 24-hour rainfall data provided by the met division at 5:45 pm on Friday, Dhankuta recorded 28.5 mm rainfall, Dadeldhura 24.7 mm, Nepalgunj 14.5 mm, Ghorahi 11.6 mm, Kathmandu 11.2 mm, Birendranagar 10 mm, and Pokhara 6.6 mm rainfall.

The division classifies moderate rainfall as 10 to 50 mm, heavy as 50 to 100 mm, very heavy as 100 to 200 mm, and extremely heavy as 200 to 300 mm.

The met office said overcast conditions are expected throughout the country on Friday night. There is a possibility of moderate rain, snowfall with thunder, lightning, hail, windstorms at many places of Koshi, Madhesh, Gandaki, Karnali, and Sudurpaschim provinces, and at some places in Bagmati and Lumbini provinces. There is also a possibility of heavy rainfall at one or two places in Koshi and Madhesh provinces.

Met experts said that one should be cautious while going out during rain, lightning, windstorm and thunder.

“We should try to remain indoors, stay away from trees and tall structures during rainfall, lightning, or strong winds,” said Madan Sigdel, associate professor at the Central Department of Hydrology and Meteorology under the Tribhuvan University. “Premonsoon activity is a normal phenomenon, but it may cause accidents. One could get hurt by falling trees, branches, and signboards, due to strong winds.”

With premonsoon activities becoming more pronounced, Nepal’s air quality, which had remained toxic for the past several months, has improved significantly in recent days. Rainfall also brings relief to farmers.

“Weather will improve from Sunday,” said Paudel, meteorologist, at the division.