Coldest day in Gangtok

Gangtok, Nov 29 (UNI) Gangtok today recorded the coldest day of the season with the minimum temperature plummeting to 6.4 degree celsius, the lowest this season.

Met office sources here said the mercury started falling over the last ten days following heavy snowfall in higher hills and light to moderate rains in lower reaches, including Gangtok.

The local weather office sources attributed the reason to the western disturbance factor. The sources said the western disturbances that was built up in Iran and Afghanistan descended upon Sikkim via China and Tibet and brought the temperature down.

Due to its influence, all places above 1200 feet including Nathu la and the famous Tsong lake, experienced heavy snow fall during the last ten days. Gangtok and other areas received light to moderate rainfall and the sky remained cloudy.

Weather office sources said if the situation continued Gangtok might receive snowfall towards the first week of January. Gangtok, which does not normally receive snowfall, experienced it in January last year after a gap of 15 years.

The cloudy weather started here on Novermber 18 and is continuing. The maximum temperature during the period hovered around 14 to 9 degree celsius, four to nine degrees below normal respectively during the last ten days.

The weather office yesterday recorded the maximum temperature of Gangtok at 9.1 and minimum 7.1 degree celsius.

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