Rainfall data of August 2023 of some towns in the Darjeeling -Sikkim Himalaya

 

The sudden bursts of very heavy rainfall is becoming a worrisome trend and has been covered elsewhere in this blog ( 01August, 09August,25August,29August). Even though satellite cloud imagery, NOWCASTs, DAMINI app all give us a measure of early warning which was not available earlier, the pathetic condition of our drainage systems are unable to quickly channelize these huge volumes of fast flowing water. The result is obviously erosion and landslides. 

Where and how much did it rain in August 2023?

The heaviest rainfall was obviously over the foothills of the Himalayas, where the monsoon currents first collide with the the mountains

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744

First significant rain in the hills on 16Apr2021 after Oct 2020 and a lightning strike.

 The entire Darjeeling - Sikkim Himalaya (with the exception of north Sikkim perhaps) has been virtually bone dry since the SW monsoons withdrew from our region in Oct 2020 and it was welcome when we had rains yesterday. The thundershowers showers started in the afternoon at various places but by late evening it was over the entire region and continued well into the night with high winds, thunder and lightning. IR cloud imagery of the day is shown:

Rainfall data of the region (in mm) for yesterday is given below:
Gangtok 88, Pakyong 58, Cooch Behar 29.7, Kalimpong 25, Darjeeling 17.2, Siliguri 10.4 Mangan 8.4.
A lightning strike took place at Hanuman Mandir, Delo in Kalimpong

Widespread hail was also observed through out the region and it made parts of Gangtok look like Norway during Christmas time. (MG Marg Gangtok is seen below)

Praful Rao
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya