KATHMANDU: Nepal News presents this week’s Shot of the Week: a striking pre-monsoon sky captured from Kirtipur as thick black clouds gather heavily over the Kathmandu Valley, casting the capital beneath a dark and restless horizon moments before rain.

The image reflects the growing intensity of Nepal’s pre-monsoon season, a transitional weather period that stretches across March, April, and May before the full arrival of the monsoon. During this time, shifting western and local winds, combined with moisture carried from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea, cause rapid and unpredictable changes in weather patterns.

According to Bibhuti Pokharel from the Meteorological Forecasting Division under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology, the country has been witnessing frequent spells of cloud cover, rainfall, thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds almost every day.

She says this year’s pre-monsoon has been more active than usual. By May 7, Nepal had already received 204.9 millimeters of rainfall, nearly 89.5 percent of the average precipitation expected during the entire pre-monsoon period.