Darjeeling, Oct. 30: With the Kanchenjunga glistening against the backdrop of the azure sky, the Queen of the Hills is the place to be in during October. But not this year.

The weather has been unusually gloomy right from the beginning of the month. “October is the month when you really fall in love with the place, but this year we have had heavy rains also. We haven’t experienced the October we all expect,” said D. Tamang, an old-timer of Darjeeling.

Weather statistics show that 2002 is also turning out to be cooler than past years. The minimum temperature recorded for October from 1997 to 2001 has hovered between 10 and 12.9 degrees Celsius. But the minimum temperature this year was 8.2 degrees Celsius recorded on October 27.

Temperatures have dropped two to three degrees below normal these past few days. In Calcutta, Alipore met office director-general R.N. Goldar attributed the phenomenon to the cool northerly winds blowing across the state since the past three days. “The temperature can, however, rise any day. This kind of a development is normal,” Goldar said.

He said a low pressure trough over the Bay of Bengal had led the cool winds from the north to rush in and blow over Bengal.

With the chill setting in, not many residents are venturing out to Chowrastha, a popular haunt, in the evening.

Tourists are cursing the weather for playing spoilsport. Lokesh Tewari, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Balia who is a regular visitor to Darjeeling, said: “I have been visiting the place since 1950. This is the first time in many years that I have not been able to see the Kanchenjunga from behind the Mall. During this time of the year, the peak was visible at any time of the day.”