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There will be partial to normal rain and snowfall in some places of the country today due to the influence of the low pressure system. There will be partial to normal rain in the mountainous areas of Province 1, Bagmati, Gandaki and Lumbini Provinces, with a possibility of light snowfall at one or two places, according to the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology. The weather will be generally clear in the rest of the places. Some parts of the Tarai are likely to have fog in the morning. With the possibility of temperature decreasing gradually in most parts of the country, the Department has requested all to take necessary precautions to avoid cold. Tonight, there will be partial to normal rain in the hilly areas of Province 1, Bagmati and Gandaki provinces with possibility of light snowfall at one or two places in the high hilly areas of the three provinces. According to the latest update from the Weather Forecast Division, the minimum temperature of Kathmandu Valley today is 7.7 degrees and the maximum is 19.2 degrees Celsius. The lowest minimum temperature today has been recorded at Jumla, which is -4.1 degrees while the maximum temperature is in Dharan, at 24.2 degrees Celsius.

Preparations have been started in Nawalparasi (Bardghat Susta West) to prevent possible casualties from winter and cold waves. Following the onset of winter, the district disaster management committee has decided to carry out necessary preparations. A meeting of the committee led by Chief District Officer Shravan Kumar Pokharel with participation of people's representatives, political parties, security agencies and representatives of concerned agencies decided to endorse and implement Cold Wave Emergency Action Plan 2079. The cold weather in Tarai districts including Nawalparasi affects especially the poor, pregnant women, children and senior citizens and hence necessary preparations have been made to protect the target groups, said CDO Pokharel. It has been decided that the Division Forest Office will provide firewood at a minimum cost to arrange fireplaces in various places of the district to help people stay warm and ward off the cold. The committee has also decided to maintain a stock of warm clothes including blankets. Meanwhile, the media has been requested to publish and broadcast information about the measures to avoid the cold wave. Likewise, since there is risk of road accidents as a result of cold wave and fog, the transportation entrepreneurs have been requested to make mandatory provision of fog lights in the vehicles. Similarly, Chief District Officer Pokharel said that it has been decided to stick reflective tapes or stickers on students' school bags. Emphasizing that all parties should be involved in the preparedness to reduce the impact of cold wave, member of Lumbini Provincial Assembly, Baijanath Jaiswal, urged the local level governments and concerned organizations to prepare for any likely mishap and maintain stock of disaster rescue and relief materials. RSS  

At least 554 wild animals have died in the Chitwan National Park in a span of five months. Of them, 27 died natural death and 21 succumbed to domestic dog biting, said Ganesh Prasad Tiwari, information officer for the CNP. Fighting each other, electrifying and road accidents are blamed for the death of others. The dead animals include 32 spotted deer, five rhinos, three gharials, three blue bulls, two wild elephants, two antelopes, two boars, two tortoises and one leopard. However, no wild animal has died from poaching during the period, thanks to awareness programmes launched by the CNP, he said.  

Excessively cold weather in the past few days has affected daily life in Tarai belt including Sarlahi district. Dense fog from early morning Thursday has made the weather severely cold, with little to no sunshine in the area since Wednesday. Continuous cold wind and frost have exacerbated the cold weather, forcing the children, senior citizens and chronic patients to stay indoors. Movement of people and other activities in the market has also drastically reduced with the dipping temperatures. Meanwhile, the number of patients suffering from cold related ailments too has also increased in several settlements. The count of people suffering from asthma, cough and arthritis has drastically gone up. The older people, infants and new mothers are the hardest hit or are at risk from cold. Meanwhile, normal life is badly affected in the western Tarai including the district of Banke from Wednesday with the sudden dip in temperature. Thick fog has blanketed the region from early morning affecting the mobility of people. The minimum temperature in Banke district was recorded at 10.5 degree Celsius on Thursday. Likewise, regular flights to and from Nepalgunj airport are affected for the past two days due to poor visibility because of the thick fog in the morning time. However, regular flights are taking place in the afternoon time, according to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal, Banke office.