Namche Bazaar — An unseasonably intense snowstorm swept through the Everest region on Sunday, dumping over a metre of fresh snow at Base Camp and prompting the Nepal Mountaineering Association to suspend all ongoing autumn expeditions until conditions improve.
The storm caught several teams mid-rotation on the mountain. All climbers were safely evacuated to lower camps, and no casualties were reported. Helicopter rescue operations airlifted four climbers suffering from altitude sickness and mild frostbite to Lukla, from where they were transferred to hospitals in Kathmandu.
Meteorologists at the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology linked the storm to an unusual northward shift in the monsoon trough, itself connected to warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the Bay of Bengal. "Events like this are becoming less rare," said senior meteorologist Roshan Joshi. "Expedition operators need to build larger weather windows into their itineraries."