Overview
- IMD data show Uttarakhand recorded virtually no rain or snow in December and January, Himachal Pradesh had its sixth-driest December since 1901, and Jammu & Kashmir logged very little precipitation this month.
- Weak, moisture-poor western disturbances tracked north at higher latitudes with shallow troughs, producing numerous passes but scant precipitation across the region, according to IMD officials.
- The IMD forecasts light to moderate rain and snow from January 18–20 over northwest India and the western Himalayan region, while overall winter rainfall remains projected below normal for much of the country.
- Forest fire activity has surged, with the Forest Survey of India reporting over 1,600 alerts in Uttarakhand, around 600 in Himachal Pradesh, and roughly 300 in Jammu & Kashmir, including incidents near Nanda Devi and the Valley of Flowers.
- Uttarakhand officials report preliminary crop losses of 15–20 percent as glaciologists warn of negative glacier mass balance, rising proglacial and supraglacial lake formation, and reduced downstream river discharge.