Why Is the Himalaya Snowless in Peak Winter And Has This Happened Before? |
Imagine driving up to Auli or Shimla in January, the roads snaking higher into the Himalaya, and instead of snowy ridges and sparkling white hills, you see bare rock and brown grass.
The peaks that usually glow under winter sunlight remain dark and exposed. This winter, what should have been a peak snow season has been painfully dry.
Uttarakhand’s mountains logged virtually zero snowfall and rainfall in December, leaving slopes snow-free well into January. Accommodation in winter hubs like Auli has plummeted as tourists cancel trips, after the news of snowless mountains circulated.
This isn’t just about missing snowflakes or skiing. For India, a nation whose rivers, water systems and millions of livelihoods depend on Himalayan snow, this absence matters profoundly.
Snow in the western Himalaya, from Jammu & Kashmir to Uttarakhand, normally arrives with western disturbances. These are extratropical storms that travel from the Mediterranean and bring winter moisture to Northern India.
When these systems are strong and frequent, they produce rain in the plains and snow in the mountains. This winter, however, the western disturbances were weak and irregular.
At meteorological stations like the Tungnath peaks in Uttarakhand,........