Temperature dips to 1 degree Celsius in Darjeeling

Temperature plummeted to one degree Celsius in the higher slopes of Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal on Saturday, an official of the Regional Meteorological Centre here said.

Light snow showers in higher altitudes of the hill station covered the ground with snow much to the merriment of locals and tourists.

"Though the temperature is 1 degree Celsius, it felt like minus 2 degree Celsius due to the cloud cover and the 2 mm snowfall," the official said.

However, the met office will be able to classify if the snow showers can be called 'full-fledged snowfall' only after analysing the figures by tomorrow, he said.

The maximum temperature reached to 10-degree Celsius in some parts of the hill at noon before dipping again.

According to the forecast, thunderstorms with lightning and moderate snowfall likely at one or two places in Darjeeling hills.

Debolina Chakraborty, a young woman from Tollygunje, was ecstatic to experience the first snowfall in her life.

"It was a beautiful sight, the road suddenly was covered with white sheets even as we could see snowflakes coming down. We stayed as long as we could but had to return to our hotel before dusk," she said.