Recently, a few districts across the country reported damages to properties due to windstorms. According to the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology, the current wind speeds are within the normal range for this time of year and consistent with previous years. Officials have said that the wind will continue until the onset of the monsoon.
The automatic weather stations across the country showed that the wind has reached the highest speed of about 45 kilometres per hour as of the 2nd of this month in the southeast and northern parts of the country.
According to the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology (NCHM), wind occurs during the pre-monsoon period, which is from March to May, and during the post-monsoon from October to December due to the change in wind direction.
Officials said that one of the factors contributing to gusty wind is the change in season.
“The second reason on a larger scale we have something called the jetstream. Jetstream is an area of high wind speed about 5 kilometers into the atmosphere. During the spring season, it can influence surface winds as well. If you look here we can see the blue region which depicts the jetstream. It also passes through Bhutan so this is another reason that could contribute to strong winds,” said Dechen Lhamo Gyeltshen, a meteorologist with NCHM.
She added that other factor includes the ongoing cyclonic circulation in the southern countries like Northeast Assam and Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, the National Centre for Hydrology and Meteorology forecast heavy rainfall this monsoon which might trigger floods and landslides.
Last year, the rainfall was lower than average in the country.
The office will release this year’s monsoon outlook towards the end of this month.
Namgay Dema
Edited by Tshering Zam
