The type of rainfall Kalimpong witnessed last evening and which continued for the whole of this morning (21Jul2026) was what we expect during the month of July in this region...steady and continuous rain which can turn heavy at times.
There was no thunder or lightning, just the steady drumbeat of heavy rain for hours on end. The graph above shows just that with the rainfall intensity remaining above 50mm/hr for much of the time.
That was not surprising, what was very surprising to me was the fact that the rainfall was very targeted and confined, affecting only Kalimpong town and a small area in its vicinity. The map below reveals this and rainfall figures above 100mm are in RED.
The Infra-Red (IR) cloud imagery (below) of this region of 06.15am today shows nothing which could have caused such heavy rain over Kalimpong while causing only 9.6mm over Siliguri and 8.3mm over Gangtok.
The rainfall caused a small urban landslide near my home in Tirpai Kalimpong this morning. The drone image of the landslide is placed below (27° 4' 37.308" N 88° 29' 17.43" E - drone lat/long). Do notice the densely packed homes which seems to be the direction in which every mountain town in the Himalayas is heading.
Praful Rao
SaveTheHills
savethehills@gmail.com
9475033744
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