Rainfall data of Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya : March 2017

The precipitation of Mar2017 was a welcome phenomenon. In our region the rainfall,snow and even the hail was moderate with no landslides or casualties reported and the rain brought a relief from the forest fires, the acute water shortage and came as a welcome break for those involved in farming and horticulture.
And even though IMD predicts higher than normal temps in our region in the pre-monsoon period, temperatures here are below normal, ranging from cool to even cold.
It snowed in Sandakhpu , Darjeeling around the 11Mar2017 (see image below).

The most disconcerting event was of course the 4.5M earthquake of 27Mar2017 epi-centred 25km northeast of Kalimpong, near Pakyong (Sikkim) - see previous post.

Rainfall data collection and tabulation - Rohan Rao

Praful Rao,
Kalimpong district
Darjeeling-Sikkim Himalaya

Welcome winter rains : 16/17Feb2013

It has been almost bone dry here after the withdrawal of the south-westerly monsoons in Sep2012 and so the sudden, albeit light showers, which came down in Darjeeling district and which resulted in snowfall in some areas of Sikkim and Bhutan as a result of a western disturbance moving through the northern parts of Indian sub-continent was wholly welcome.
This rainfall though meagre, will certainly increase the greenery in our water-starved forests and will hopefully result in less devastation of our forests due to fires besides recharging so many of our thirsty natural springs.
Rainfall data from STH, ARG (automatic rainfall gauge) in Kalimpong:
16Feb2013 : 16mm
17Feb2013 : 9mm


Praful Rao