Using the Automatic Weather Station data to understand weather and rainfall (in this case, of Kalimpong)

The rainfall chart for the period May2025 to May2026 for Kalimpong is above and a brief analysis of the same here👇:
a. We had a fairly wet monsoon season (from approx May to Oct2025) characterized by 9 spikes when rainfall exceeded 90mm in a 24hr period. The season did start with some hiccups though:

Typical cloud image over North Bengal and Sikkim before the heavy rain of 19Jun2025

Warning on 13Jul2025 for the heavy rain (112.8mm) on 14Jul2025.

July is typically the wettest month of the monsoon season. In July 2025, there were four days during which rainfall exceeded 90 mm in a 24-hour period. Thereafter, rainfall gradually declined, apart from a brief spike on 12 August 2025. Total rainfall amounted to 467 mm in August and 253.2 mm in September 2025.

October 2025 was relatively dry, except for two days of intense rainfall. On 4–5 October, widespread heavy rain affected the entire region and triggered devastating landslides and flash floods, resulting in significant loss of life in Mirik.

These instances of spikes in rainfall are normally associated with convective clouds and normally consist of short, violent bursts of rainfall which cause high runoff and low infiltration of water (as such no recharge of aquifers) and only result in soil erosion, landslides and damage to roads.

 

After the 2025 monsoons, we went thru an extended 5 month period of drought-like conditions from November2025 to March2026.

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744 

Rainfall data of March/April 2026 of Sub-Himalayan W Bengal (SHWB) and Sikkim.

Despite the numerous Western Disturbances (WD) hitting the Western Himalayas during the winter of 2026, winter rains for us in the eastern end of the Himalayas were conspicuous by their absence. This was because WDs, which are responsible for our winter precipitation were tracking along higher latitudes or veering off towards the Tibetan plateau as they moved east (see satellite image above) as such never reached the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya.

Forest fires in South Sikkim on 17Feb2026 due to extreme dry weather

In Kalimpong, we received our first storm and rains around mid - March 2026 but the Darjeeling-Kalimpong districts remained largely deficient in rain in Mar2026. 
Sikkim, however received far more rain in March and it is tabulated below:

Rainfall data day-wise for APRIL 2026 of some places in the Darjeeling and Sikkim Himalayas is shown below:

 

 

Location of rain gauge stations and rough zones of rainfall are shown:

Zone 1:  Sikkim, especially North Sikkim, received the heaviest rainfall
Among all areas in the SHWB–Sikkim, the highest precipitation occurred in North Sikkim (Mangan, Lachen, Lachung, Chungthang belt).
Zone 2. Plains of Dooars and Alipurduar were also very wet. The foothill districts of Alipurduar, Jalpaiguri, and the Dooars experienced substantial rainfall due to strong thunderstorm activity and moisture convergence.
Zone 3.  Darjeeling and Kalimpong hills were wet but comparatively less so Although rainfall was above normal, totals in Darjeeling and Kalimpong were generally lower than in North Sikkim and parts of the plains.
And in this region, Kurseong certainly always has the heaviest rainfall. The foothills of the Dooars ie Gorubathan and that belt also have intense thunderstorms and heavy rain.

Graphical Analysis of Rainfall and Windspeed of March and April 2026 of Kalimpong

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744

8 Davis AWS stations are available in the Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya - a brief tutorial on using the AWS.

Kindly refer STH blog of 21Nov2025 on the same subject 

Ever since two Davis Automatic Weather Stations were installed in Kalimpong under Project SHAMROCC in March 2016, I have consistently advocated for expanding the use of automatic weather stations across our region. In the Himalayas, where weather conditions can shift rapidly and the impacts of climate change are especially pronounced, timely and localized data is not a luxury—it is essential. Here, I am glad to inform you that as of now, we have 8 AWS in our vicinity from which updated weather inputs are available 24X7.

Against this backdrop, it is concerning that the extensive AWS network maintained by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which was previously accessible to the public, has been taken off open access since around March 2025 and now requires login credentials.

AWS can transform how we understand and respond to weather in fragile mountain ecosystems. These systems automatically record and transmit real-time weather data without the need for human intervention.
In the Himalayas, where terrain is rugged and access is limited, AWS are indispensable. They provide continuous, high-accuracy data from remote locations, filling critical gaps left by traditional observation methods. This is especially important as climate change accelerates shifts in weather patterns, glacier melt, and extreme events.
AWS also play a key role in strengthening early warning systems and can help map changing rainfall patterns. 

For those interested in using the global Davis AWS system, here is quick tutorial:

1. Install the Weatherlink Mobile app from Google Playstore. You may have to create an account and register.
2. Open the app and add stations by hitting the + sign in the top left hand corner. Here searching by place names gives satisfactory results 
eg searching for 'Kurseong' will give 'STH KURSEONG NEW' result.
Touch the flag icon on the left to confirm adding the station - it will turn GREEN.
3. In our vicinity, you can add the following 8 stations:
a. Kalimpong - for 'STH AWS' (operated by SaveTheHIlls).
b. Kurseong - for 'STH KURSEONG NEW' (operated by SaveTheHIlls).
c. Ahalay - for 'AHALAY GBN AWS' (operated by Govt of WB, in Gorubathan).
d. Darjeeling - for 'ST PAUL'S SCHOOL METEOROLOGICAL STATION' (operated by SPS, Darjeeling).
e. Pedong - for 'BSA AWS-PEDONG' (operated by Bal Suraksha Abhiyan, Kalimpong).
f. Todey - for 'BSA AWS, TODEY, KALIMPONG' - (operated by Bal Suraksha Abhiyan, Kalimpong) - Todey is located in the eastern most corner of Kalimpong district, close to Bhutan.
g. Gangtok - for 'LAMA BUILDING' (privately operated).
h. Gangtok - for 'SSDMASEEDS' (operated by Sikkim Govt).
4. Your phone display should look something like this👇

Do experiment with the various features which are on the app to receive updated weather information from the DAVIS AWS located in our area as well as all over the world.

Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744