Scientists warn the mountains are changing faster than anyone expected as winter leaves the Himalayas bare and rocky instead of snow-covered
From a distance, the Himalayas still look timeless. The peaks rise sharply. The air feels cold enough for snow. The calendar says winter. But across wide stretches of the range, the colour is wrong. Slopes that should shine white look darker. Ridges appear exposed. What should feel like deep winter instead feels like something paused — like a season that did not fully arrive.
A winter that feels unfinished
For decades, winter followed a steady rhythm here. Storm systems moved in from the west. Snow settled across high elevations. The mountains built up a frozen reserve, storing water for the months ahead. That pattern now seems weaker.
Meteorologists say most winters in the last five years have seen less precipitation compared to the average between 1980 and 2020. In December, the Indian Meteorological Department recorded no precipitation at all — neither rainfall nor snowfall — in almost all of northern India.
Between January and March, many parts of northwest India — including Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — are expected to receive 86% less rainfall and snowfall than the long period average. The long period average between 1971 and 2020 in north India was 184.3 millimetres. This winter is tracking far below that baseline, marking a dramatic seasonal shortfall.
The reveal on the mountainsides
All of this leads to one clear outcome.
Much less winter snow is falling on the Himalayas, leaving mountains bare and rocky in a season when they should be snow-clad.
Scientists say strong evidence across multiple datasets confirms that winter precipitation in the western and parts of the central Himalayas is decreasing. This is happening at the same time as glaciers in the region are already melting faster because of global warming. Experts warn that the mountains are facing double pressure from less snow and melting ice.
Snow that does not stay
Even when snow falls, it melts quickly.
Rising temperatures mean that snowfall does not linger as it once did. Lower-elevation areas are also seeing more rain instead of snow. Scientific reports, including those cited by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, link this shift at least in part to global warming. The result is warmer winters with weaker snow cover.
Scientists also measure how long snow remains on the ground. This is known as snow persistence. The winter of 2024–2025 recorded a 23-year record low, nearly 24% below-normal snow persistence in the Hindu Kush Himalaya region, according to the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD). Four of the past five winters between 2020 and 2025 saw below-normal snow persistence — a sign of shrinking winter snow reserves.
At elevations between 3,000 and 6,000 metres, researchers say the region is increasingly experiencing snow droughts, where snow becomes significantly scarce during winter.
Why the impact travels far beyond the peaks
Snow in the Himalayas is more than scenery. It is stored water.
As temperatures rise in spring, accumulated winter snow melts and feeds river systems. On average, snowmelt contributes about a fourth of the total annual runoff of 12 major river basins in the region. That water supports drinking supplies, irrigation and hydropower, affecting nearly two billion people downstream.
Less winter precipitation also increases the risk of forest fires due to dry conditions. Vanishing glaciers and declining snowfall weaken mountain slopes, as ice and snow act like a kind of cement holding them together. Disasters such as rockfalls, landslides, glacial lake bursts and debris flows are becoming more common, reflecting growing instability in high mountain terrain.
Most meteorologists point to weakening westerly disturbances — low-pressure systems from the Mediterranean that historically brought winter rain and snow — as a key reason. Some research suggests they are becoming weaker and possibly shifting northward, reducing their ability to draw moisture from the Arabian Sea. India’s weather department has described this winter’s system as “feeble,” producing only minimal precipitation.
Scientists are still studying the exact causes. But the visual evidence is already there.
The Himalayas still rise as high as ever. Yet in winter, more of them are standing without snow — and that change is no longer subtle.
For full reporting and scientific detail, see the original BBC coverage.