Chill skips city but Hills gets snow...
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Deep Gazmer & Sumati Yengkhom
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Darjeeling/Kolkata: Jan 09 2015 : The Times of India (Kolkata)
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Met Office Says There Will Be No Immediate Dip In Temp For Kolkata
The winter chill kept eluding Kolkata, even as Sandakphu received heavy snowfall on Thursday .
Kolkata's temperature had gone up to 21°C last week and on Thursday it went up to 25°C. The night temperature at 13.7°C was normal. The Met office does not expect the mercury to dip further immediately .
“The night temperature will hover around the 14°C mark, while the day temperature will be around 25°C in the next few days,“ said a source at the Regional Meteorological Centre.
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On the other hand, Sandakphu, 60km from Darjeeling town, received 4-5 inches of snow on Thursday .Sandhakphu, the topmost point of Darjeeling at 3,636m, received heavy snowfall for almost an hour. Officials of the tourist lodges owned by Gorkhaland Territorial Administration (GTA) could not be contacted, but drivers of the ManyeybhanjyangSandakphu route confirmed that it snowed for about an hour from 3.30 to 4.30pm.
“Some of my fellow drivers who had taken a group of tourists to Sandakphu returned after going half of the way because of 4-5 inches of snow. Some tourists walked down to Maneybhanjyang, which is the starting point towards Sandakphu,” said Chandan Pradhan, general secretary of the Singalila Landrover Association.
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In Darjeeling town, however, the situation was different. Although the sky was clear in the morning, the weather turned chilly and clouds gathered overhead in the afternoon.
Around 3.50pm, a drizzle sparked an ticipation of snowfall. The anticipation however died just as fast since the rain subsided within five minutes, leaving the streets covered in slush. Hope of snow on Tiger Hill at 2,560m, which normally receives snow, also faded.
“The temperature in Tiger Hill is around 3-4 degrees, which is not conducive for snowfall. But it could snow late in the evening or in the night. Some tourists were here but had to go back disappointed,” said Pradip Lama, the Pavilion manager of Tiger Hill.
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Rashik Garg from Bangalore, who arrived in Darjeeling on Wednesday, said “I was looking forward to snowfall as my hotel manager had said that it could snow anytime because of the weather condition prevailing over the week. I was ready to rush to Tiger Hill if it snowed. The drizzle in the afternoon gave some hope but it faded with the sun that came out five minutes later.” It had snowed in Sandakphu even a week back, but had failed to accumulate.
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Source:click here