Snow

The complete disappearance of snow this year is being attributed to scanty rainfall and patchy snowfall in the upper Himalayas over the past five years

An unusually cold weather system from the Gulf of Alaska interrupted summer along the West Coast on Saturday, bringing snow to Washington state's Mount Rainier and a national park in Northern California, causing authorities to close part of a highway that runs through the park. Parts of Highway 89 through Lassen Volcanic National Park in California were closed Saturday after an estimated three inches of snow fell overnight, according to the National Weather Service. Photos posted by the National Weather Service and local authorities showed a white-covered peak from Rainier and a dusting of snow at Minaret Vista, a lookout point southeast of Yosemite National Park in California's Sierra Nevada. Madera County Deputy Sheriff Larry Rich said it was definitely unexpected to see snow at Minaret Vista in August. It's not every day you get to spend your birthday surrounded by a winter wonderland in the middle of summer, he said in a statement. It made for a day I won't soon forget, and a ..

The seasonal snow cover in Chenab, Beas, Ravi and Sutlej river basins in Himachal Pradesh decreased by 12.72 per cent in 2023-24 compared to 14.25 per cent in 2022-23, a statement issued here on Friday said. During the early winter months of 2023-24 (October to November), the Chenab, Beas and Sutlej basins showed negative trends in snow cover, whereas the Ravi basin showed a marginal increase, reflecting a positive trend, the statement quoting a study said. However, results for the peak winter months indicated significant declines in all the basins -- 67 per cent in Sutlej, 44 per cent in Ravi, 43 per cent in Beas and 42 per cent in Chenab in January 2024, according to the study conducted by the State Centre on Climate Change, under the aegis of the HP Council for Science, Technology, and Environment (HIMCOSTE). In February, a positive trend was observed in all basins, with an increase in snow cover, continuing into March 2024. Based on the analysis, it was observed that the declin

As many as 81 tourists stranded in Himachal Pradesh's Spiti Valley due to closure of roads after heavy snowfall have been shifted to safer places, police said on Monday. Meanwhile, over 650 roads, including five national highways, in the state remained closed for vehicular movement on Monday following several avalanches and landslides caused by incessant rain and snow for the past three days, according to the state emergency operation centre. The 81 tourists stranded in Spiti Valley in Lahaul and Spiti district were on Sunday night shifted to and accommodated in different hotels and homestays there, the police said in a statement. About 290 roads are blocked in this tribal district and several areas are without electricity for the past two days, the statement said. Heavy rain and snow in Lahaul and Spiti has also disrupted the mobile network, it added. On Sunday, an avalanche hit Dara Waterfall near Jasrat village in Lahaul and Spiti, obstructing the flow of Chenab and triggerin

High mountain passes with barely any snow, skiers hoping to slalom down white slopes disappointed and tourists calling off trips to hill destinations... the El Nino effect is playing out across the northwest Himalayas with an unusually dry winter and no immediate relief in the offing. According to the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), 2023 was the warmest-on-record year and the warming El Nino event is likely to further fuel the heat in 2024. The El Nino phenomenon occurs when sea surface temperatures (SSTs) are higher than average in the eastern tropical Pacific, and there is a simultaneous weakening of trade winds. The absence of snowfall is not a one-time thing but affects the annual cycle of snow. If it continues longer, it can have a huge cascading effect on socio-economic benefits. If you don't get (enough) snow, you don't get replenishment of water, it will impact agriculture, your health and can, in turn, impact your economy, glaciologist and Himalayan researcher A N

A significant hike was observed in tourism in China due to the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival which helped to generate over 46.18 million yuan in income

A cyclone brought more than a day of constant blizzards to the Russian capital in what could be one of the strongest snow storms to hit Moscow in 60 years, according to meteorologists

As many as 27 metric tonnes of ice and snow melt in the Himalayas had been prevented by the Indian national lockdown, in place from March 25, 2020, to May 31, 2020, according to a new study. Diminished anthropogenic pollutant emissions during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns reduced snowmelt in the Himalayas, the study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Nexus said. Liqiang Zhang from Beijing Normal University, China, and colleagues explored how the sudden, dramatic reduction in particulate pollution in the region affected snow and ice melt, using multiple satellite data as well as a coupled atmosphere-chemistry-snow model. The authors estimate that the reduced anthropogenic pollutant emissions during the Indian lockdown was responsible for 71.6 per cent of the reduction in radiative forcing on snow in April 2020 compared to the same period in 2019. This reduction in radiative forcing may have prevented 27 MT in ice and snow melt. The results emphasised

More than 9,000 California residents were under evacuation orders Friday as a new atmospheric river brought heavy rain, thunderstorms and strong winds, swelling rivers and creeks and flooding several major highways and small rural communities. In Santa Cruz County, a creek bloated by rain destroyed a portion of Main Street in Soquel, a town of 10,000 people, isolating several neighborhoods. Crews were working to remove trees and other debris and find a way for people to cross the creek, county officials said. County authorities asked the town's residents to stay indoors. Heather Wingfield, a teacher who runs a small urban farm with her husband in Soquel, said she and her neighbors were, for the time being, trapped in their homes as Bates Creek rushed through what was once Main Street. It's horrible, she said. Hopefully no one has a medical emergency. Wingfield said her neighbors' water infrastructure was also washed out, but that her family's well would keep them with running water

The higher reaches and tribal areas of Himachal Pradesh on Monday received moderate to heavy snowfall, choking traffic and disrupting daily life. The snow led to the closure of 484 roads, including three national highways, for vehicular traffic. Moderate to heavy snow was recorded in parts of Shimla, Kinnaur, Lahaul and Spiti, Kullu and Chamba districts. Rohtang pass, Chitkul and the Atal Tunnel's south portal received 75 cm snow, followed by Khadrala in Shimla district at 60 cm, Solang at 55 cm, Kothi at 45 cm, Sangala at 41.5 cm, Kalpa at 39.2 cm, Narkanda and Kaza at 30 cm each, Pooh at 28 cm, Khoksar at 18 cm, Shillaroo at 17.5 cm, Tissa at 17 cm, Chopal and Kufri at 16 cm, Keylong and Samdo at 14 cm each and Manali at 3 cm. Icy winds pummelled the region with the Met office issuing an 'orange' alert for heavy rain/snow at isolated places in the mid and high hills of Chamba, Kangra, Kullu, Mandi, Shimla, Lahaul & Spiti and Kinnaur later in the day. It has also predicted ...

Strong winter fronts have pounded parts of Japan hard with heavy snow, stranding cars on the roads and delaying delivery services since mid-December

In Pictures: From Dal Lake to Shimla, a blanket of snow has taken over

Shimla saw a low of minus 0.7 degrees, while the minimum temperature was minus 3.6 degree in Manali, minus 1.9 degrees in Dalhousie, minus 4.5 degrees in Kufri and 1.8 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala.

Back to back western disturbances will continue to affect J&K, HP, Uttarakhand throughout January