Winter rains and precipitation in the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya (16Feb2019)

Placed above are IR images of clouding over the Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya of time 0530hrs and 1230hrs. The clouding is due to one of a series of WDs which has been affecting the western Himalaya first, then sweeping east towards us.
In Kalimpong there was continuous thunder and lightning from around 1330hrs till 1830hrs though the rainfall was only light. Darjeeling on the other hand was swathed in a blanket of hail. Read more here.

In this regard, I am placing the explanation to this weather event, below:

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district,
Darjeeling Sikkim Himalaya

STH activities: sensitizing the Community about Cyclone 'Roanu' in the local news today

Since many people of this region were unaware about the cyclone, we had a report on Cyclone 'Roanu' published in Himalaya Darpan along with the track of the storm. Himalaya Darpan is a Nepali language newspaper which commands the largest readership amongst the local people here.
Briefly the report states that the yesterday's rainfall was not due to the SW monsoons which was still a fortnight away but due to a cyclone. We asked the community to be alert in case of possible heavy rain and ensuing landslides.

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong,
Dist Darjeeling