By Girdhari Lal Raina

This winter marks the seventh straight year of snow scarcity in the valley. 

Overall precipitation has dropped 65 percent below normal, and February alone fell short by a staggering 89 percent. The mountains that should be draped in white lie bare and brown.

It is like watching a bank robbery in slow motion.

Snow here functions as our primary reservoir. Winter accumulation melts through spring and summer, feeding rivers, irrigation channels, drinking water systems, hydropower stations, and apple orchards. When the snow fails, every system suffers. 

We measured 100.6 millimeters of precipitation this season against a normal of 284.9 millimeters. The numbers tell a stark story.

This recurring shift signals more than a single bad season.

Over three consecutive winters, precipitation deficits reached 54 percent in 2023-24, 45 percent in 2024-25, and 65 percent in 2025-26. The pattern points to a structural change rather than simple bad luck.

Climate research now confirms what the valley’s changing winters have been silently signaling for years. 

Glaciers across Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh are retreating faster with each passing decade. Scientists estimate that 25 to 30 percent of glacier mass has been lost since the 1960s, and current warming trajectories suggest up to 70 percent could disappear by 2100. That future lies within the lifetimes of children born today.

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The........

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