How the Fall Trekking Period Turned Fatal in the Himalayan Mountains

Bright skies, calm breezes and a panoramic view of majestic peaks draped in snow - that is the fall setting that hikers on Mount Everest have come to love.

However that seems to be changing.

Shifting Climate Conditions

Weather experts say the rainy season now extends into fall, which is historically the high-altitude tourism season.

During this delayed tail end of monsoon, they have recorded at least one instance of extreme rainfall almost every year for the previous ten years, with high-altitude conditions becoming more risky.

Recent Emergency on Everest

Last weekend, a unexpected blizzard stranded hundreds of travelers near the eastern face of Mount Everest for multiple days in bitterly cold temperatures at an altitude of more than 4,900m.

Almost 600 trekkers were guided to safety by the end of Tuesday, according to sources.

One person had died from hypothermia and mountain sickness, but the others were said to be in good condition.

Similar Incidents Across the Region

The emergency was on the northern side but a comparable situation had unfolded on the Nepal side, where a Korean mountaineer lost his life on another Himalayan summit.

The world learned after some delay because communication lines were affected by heavy downpours and heavy snowfall.

Authorities estimate that landslides and sudden floods in the country have claimed the lives of approximately sixty people over the past week.

"This is highly atypical for autumn during which we anticipate the weather to remain calm," stated an experienced mountain guide.

Economic Consequences

Given this is the preferred season, regular storms like these have "hampered our trekking and mountaineering business," he added.

The monsoon season in northern India and Nepal usually lasts from early summer to mid-September, but no longer.

"Our data shows that the majority of the years in the past ten years have had monsoons lasting until the middle of October, which is definitely a change," explained a high-ranking meteorology expert.

Growing Weather Severity

More worrying is the intense precipitation and snowfall the tail end of the season produces, like it did this time on early October.

At elevation in the Himalayas, such severe conditions translates to snowstorms and winter storms, which represents a significant danger for hiking, climbing and the travel industry.

Firsthand Accounts

That's what happened recently when the weather shifted quite suddenly - the air currents began roaring, mercury readings plummeted and sightlines decreased significantly.

The trail that had comfortably led the hikers to what should have been a stunning pitstop was now buried in snow and extremely difficult to navigate.

Nevertheless, one hiker, who had hiked the Himalayas more than a twelve times, reported he had "not once experienced conditions like this" before.

Expert Explanations

One major driver is the increased quantity of humidity in the atmosphere because of how the planet has been warming, researchers say.

That has contributed to heavy precipitation over a brief period of duration, often after a extended period without rain – unlike in the past when monsoon showers were distributed evenly over four months.

A Turbocharged Monsoon

Climate specialists say the rainy seasons in the region at occasions seem to have become more intense because they are increasingly coming into contact with an additional atmospheric phenomenon, the western weather pattern.

The phenomenon is a low pressure system that originates in the Mediterranean area and travels eastward - it carries cold air that causes precipitation and occasionally snow to the subcontinent, neighboring countries and the Himalayan region.

Climate Warming Impacts

Researchers have additionally found that in a warming world, the increasing relationship between westerly disturbances and monsoons is causing an additional unusual result.

The hotter air is forcing the clouds to greater altitudes, which means these weather systems are now able to cross the Himalayas and affect Tibet and other areas that previously experienced less as much rain in the past.

"The transformation is the predictability of patterns; we cannot presume that situations will occur the identical from season to season," said an experienced expedition leader.

"This implies adaptable planning, real-time choices, and knowledgeable guidance [in the Himalayas] have become even more important."