A Winter Without Snow

This winter, Sikkim feels different. The air is dry, the mountains look bare, and the silence where snow should have fallen is unsettling. Between January 1 and February 15, 2026, all six districts recorded severe rainfall deficits, according to the India Meteorological Department. Gangtok, Namchi and Gyalshing registered a shocking minus 100 percent departure, officially classified as “No Rain.” Mangan and Soreng reported deficits between minus 95 and minus 98 percent. Even Pakyong, comparatively better, stood at minus 75 percent.

And there has been virtually no snowfall. For a Himalayan state, this is not a minor fluctuation. It is a warning.

We often reduce snowfall to tourism headlines. Is there enough snow for visitors? Are the peaks photogenic? But snow is not decoration. It is storage. Glaciers such as the Gangotri Glacier and Chorabari Glacier are frozen reservoirs that sustain rivers serving nearly two billion people. Winter snow is the annual deposit. Without it, the account weakens.

Across much of the Western and Central Himalayas this season, precipitation deficits have ranged from 80 to 100 percent. When late January finally brought snowfall to parts of north India, it was welcomed with relief. But late snow is wet snow. It melts quickly. It does not compress into the dense ice that strengthens glaciers. The mountains are losing more ice than they are gaining.

This matters far beyond the high peaks. Nearly a quarter of the flow in the Ganga, Indus and Yamuna basins depends on Himalayan snowmelt. When snow arrives late or not at all, river flow becomes erratic. Agriculture suffers. Groundwater recharge weakens. Hydropower becomes uncertain. Cities begin to ration.

The changing behaviour of Western Disturbances, likely influenced by rising global temperatures and shifting jet streams, has disrupted what was once a predictable winter cycle. Long dry spells followed by sudden bursts may make for dramatic headlines, but they do not rebuild glaciers.

We are witnessing the slow erosion of Himalayan water security. If snowfall becomes erratic, India’s water crisis will no longer be a future scenario — it will be a lived reality. The absence of snow is not just about empty mountains. It is about empty taps.