Autumn on Mount Everest has long been synonymous with clear skies, gentle breezes, and breathtaking vistas of snow-covered Himalayan peaks, a season cherished by hikers.
However, this idyllic image appears to be undergoing a transformation.
Meteorologists report that the monsoon season is now extending into autumn, the period traditionally favored for mountain tourism. Over the past decade, this delayed monsoon’s tail end has been marked by at least one episode of extreme rainfall each year, rendering mountain weather increasingly perilous.
Just last weekend, an unexpected blizzard left hundreds of tourists stranded near Everest’s eastern face for several days, enduring freezing temperatures at altitudes exceeding 4,900m (16,000ft).
By Tuesday, nearly 600 trekkers had been safely guided to lower elevations, according to Chinese state media. Tragically, one person succumbed to hypothermia and altitude sickness, though the remaining individuals were reportedly in stable condition.
A similar situation unfolded on the Nepalese side of the mountain, where a South Korean mountaineer perished on Mera Peak.
News of the incidents was delayed due to communication disruptions caused by torrential rains and heavy snowfall. Officials estimate that landslides and flash floods have claimed the lives of approximately 60 people in Nepal over the past week.
“This is highly unusual for October, a month when we typically expect clear skies,” noted Riten Jangbu Sherpa, a seasoned mountain guide, emphasizing the increasing frequency with which trekkers are encountering unforeseen extreme weather events in recent years.
Given autumn’s status as the preferred season, these frequent storms have “hampered our trekking and mountaineering business,” he added.
The monsoon season in northern India and Nepal traditionally spans from June to mid-September, but this pattern is shifting.
“Our data indicates that in most years over the past decade, monsoons have persisted until the second week of October, a definitive change,” explained Archana Shrestha, Deputy Director General at Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.
Of particular concern is the intense rainfall and snowfall that accompanies the season’s tail end, as witnessed on October 4th and 5th. Ms. Shreshtha described this pattern as “damaging precipitation in a short span of time.”
In the high Himalayas, such extreme weather translates to blizzards and snowstorms, posing a significant risk to trekking, mountaineering, and tourism.
This is precisely what occurred last weekend, when the weather shifted abruptly, with howling winds, plummeting temperatures, and a drastic reduction in visibility.
The road that had once provided easy access to a stunning vista was now buried under snow, rendering it impassable.
On Cho Oyu, another mountain straddling the border between China and Nepal, a team of climbers temporarily retreated from the 8,201m peak due to relentless snowfall.
“They have since returned after the heavy snowfall subsided,” stated expedition operator Mingma Sherpa, whose team comprises six members.
However, for hikers stranded near Everest’s eastern face, the return journey was far more treacherous. Some told the BBC of battling hypothermia despite wearing warm clothing while struggling through deep snow. Others reported sleepless nights, fearing being buried in the heavy snowfall that required constant clearing.
The situation could have ended tragically had it not been for a well-coordinated rescue effort, involving the use of yaks and horses to clear the snow.
Despite his extensive experience hiking in these mountains, one trekker told the BBC that he had “never experienced weather like this.”
Scientists attribute this shift to a higher concentration of moisture in the atmosphere, a consequence of global warming.
This has resulted in torrential rains over brief periods, often following prolonged dry spells, a departure from the past when monsoon showers were more evenly distributed over four months.
“The weather at this time of year has been changing annually in recent years, and we can’t make any guarantees to our clients,” remarked Passang, a travel agent in Lhasa, the Tibetan capital.
“September and October used to be peak season with pleasant weather, but these days we witness sudden extreme weather events, and the temperature drops rapidly.”
Weather experts suggest that the monsoons in South Asia may be intensifying due to increasing interactions with another weather system: the westerly disturbance.
Originating in the Mediterranean region, this low-pressure system travels eastward, carrying cold air that brings rain and, occasionally, snow to northern India, Pakistan, and Nepal.
However, when this system encounters warmer, wetter air, as it does during the monsoon, the result can be more extreme weather.
In essence, westerly disturbances can “effectively turbocharge the monsoon,” explained Akshay Deoras, a weather scientist at the University of Reading in the UK.
The increased frequency of these interactions is due to the fact that westerly disturbances, traditionally a winter phenomenon arriving between December and March in northern India and the Himalayas, are now occurring earlier, during the monsoon and autumn seasons.
The deluge of rain and snow in eastern Nepal, where Everest is located, in early October was also attributed to a westerly disturbance, according to officials at Nepal’s meteorology department.
They added that the westerly disturbance fueled a low-pressure system (a remnant of the monsoon’s tail end) from the Bay of Bengal, pushing clouds eastward when they should have moved westward.
Scientists have also observed that the growing interaction between westerly disturbances and monsoons in a warming world is producing another unusual outcome.
The warmer air is pushing clouds higher, enabling these weather systems to cross the Himalayas and reach Tibet and other regions that previously received less rainfall.
A study published in the journal Nature in June notes that “the warming climate and the interaction between the westerly and the Indian monsoon are making the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau change into a warming and wetting climate.”
The Tibetan plateau has traditionally been characterized by a dry climate, and scientists warn that a warmer, wetter Tibet could lead to unstable weather and frequent snowstorms and blizzards.
“What’s changed is the reliability of patterns; we can’t assume that conditions will behave the same from season to season,” said Logan Talbott, chief guide with Alpenglow Expeditions, which organizes climbing expeditions on the Tibetan side of Everest each year.
“That means flexible scheduling, real-time decision-making, and experienced leadership [in the Himalayas] have become even more important.”
In Namibia, a group of desert lions have left their traditional hunting grounds for the Atlantic coast and are now thriving as the world’s only maritime lions.
One of the world’s driest deserts is transformed into a sea of wildflowers after a rare bloom.
Dorset Council says it wants to accelerate its plans for the authority to become carbon neutral.
Staffordshire County Council voted to overturn its climate emergency, announced in 2019.
Emissions have reduced by 2–3% a year since 2019, far below the pace needed to meet a 2030 target.