EBC Weather

[JMorris]

For anyone who has been anywhere through Lukla to EBC recently, what has the weather been like and how has this affected flights, trekking, conditions, etc?

Arriving in Nepal in just over a week and looking for any info...

Thanks

[Linwood]

JMorris,

You may find this helpful:

http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/44461.html

In case the link doesn't work, check out weather underground at www.wunderground.com, then click on (lower left menu) South Asia, then click on Nepal on the map, then click on Shyangboche. Shyangboche is the old airport just above Namche. There's a weather station up there.

Good luck and have a great time!

Linwood

PS Before going, I had read that Nepali pilots don't fly in cloudy weather because "the clouds have rocks in them". Well, when we took off for Lukla, it was cloudy. The pilot brought a stack of paper napkins on board and was using them to wipe condensation off the inside of the windshield as we waited for clearance to leave Tribhuvan. Once we got up a bit, it was indeed cloudy. As we approached Lukla, the pilot and copilot (a VERY young woman) were pointing at various landmarks and it seemed they were saying "is that it?" "no, that's not it...". Very exciting, but we arrived safe and sound. At any rate, you can get stuck, either in Kathmandu before leaving, or in Lukla trying to get back. Looks like its a bit cloudy/rainy there now... I hope it clears up for you.

[thranduil]

linwood, thanks for your link (I spent more than an hour surfing the web for something like that)

IMHO this should go straight into the faqs :)

[mtnbiker]

I may be a little late to help this person b/c they should already be here in Nepal, but just for anyone who's curious, the weather hasn't been great this month. Yesterday it snowed in katmandu for the first time in 62 years! I had a trip planned to Gokyo on Feb. 4, but flights were cancelled for like 5 or 6 days straight due to fog and snow in Lukla. So I changed plans and went to Annapurna. One couple I met attempted to take a bus to Jiri and walk in, but the day they left KTM the road going to Jiri was closed temporarily due to snowfall. Jomsom weather wasn't great eiother and flights in and out are few and far between. They said for almost 2 weeks there were no flights. Pretty crazy year....

Also, www.cnn.com has weather at EBC and at the summit.