Why Himachal Pradesh had its most rainless January since 1901 | Explained Premium

Unprecedented dryness has been reported in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Uttarakhand. There is a lack of snowfall and weather patterns have been disrupted, principally the result of a lack of Western Disturbances.

January is usually the month when Kashmir and Himachal Pradesh are blanketed with snow. This winter has however seen these regions extremely dry. Places like Gulmarg and Pahalgam, known to be popular destinations for skiing, have been unable to offer avenues for the winter sport.

Himachal Pradesh, again a state famous for several mountain resorts, has also witnessed dry slopes and valleys of brown grass. The Himalayan ranges of Uttarakhand have also reported minimal snowfall, with the first bout of snow in January at Auli, a popular hill resort, only reported on January 19.

Records from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) suggest Himachal Pradesh has registered its driest January since 1901, with a 99.7% shortfall in January rain compared to what is normal. Until this year, the record for the driest January this year was 1996, which reported a 99.6% shortfall.

Snowfall requires adequate moisture as well atmospheric temperatures to be 0 degrees C or lower. Temperatures have been fairly low since December. An analysis by the IMD in mid-January reported that maximum temperatures were running 5-8 degrees C ‘below normal’ over the plains of North India since December 29.

Minimum temperatures were also below 4 degrees C at many stations in Northwest India for most of January. This also resulted in very dense fog persisting over the plains of Northwest India. Several cities in the region reported zero visibility over the entire North Indian plains, from Amritsar to Dibrugarh, across Haryana, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar.

While moisture and high aerosol loads contribute to fog, there were three major reasons behind the lack of snowfall, and consequently intense cold waves over North India. These were a drastic fall in the number of Western Disturbances (WDs) over Northwest India; prevailing El Niño conditions, and the absence of a strong jet stream.

WDs are storms that originate in the mid-latitude regions and travel thousands of kilometres to bring rains across northern India. Such WDs in the winter dissipate fog and increase the sunshine incident on the ground, raising temperature there. When the temperatures are low, they also result in snowfall and water being available as snow melt. Melting glaciers contribute to the water available to the Ganga, the Indus, and the Yamuna rivers.