Using the hourly values of the horizontal component of geomagnetic field at Alibag, India, the recovery times of several geomagnetic storms occuring during the period 1947-59 are evaluated. Relation between average recovery time and sunspot activity is studied. Bough parallelism is observed. However, recovery characteristics are found to be very complex on several occasions and vary widely from storm to storm even in the same year. Theoretical implications of these peculiarities are discussed.