White wonderland: Light snowfall in the higher reaches of Darjeeling

Darjeeling: Surrounding areas of Darjeeling, including Tiger Hill, witnessed very light snowfall and hail on Thursday while the town received light rains. This has resulted in plummeting temperatures accompanied by chilly winds.

Darjeeling woke up to a cold day with overcast skies on Thursday. At around 1 pm while it started to drizzle in the town, surrounding areas, including Tiger Hill at an altitude of 2590m, Ghoom, Jorebungalow and Sonada, witnessed light snowfall and hail.

Minimum temperature dipped to 2 degrees in the town while minimum temperature hovered around 0 at Tiger Hill. "There will be rainfall and snow in the higher reaches of the region in the next few days owing to a passage of western disturbances. Intensity of this will be high on January 22 and 23," stated Dr Gopinath Raha of IMD, Gangtok.

This is the second spell of snowfall around Darjeeling town. On January 30, 2021, certain areas of Darjeeling and surrounding areas had witnessed snowfall. The day wore a deserted look with few people on the roads.