Snow that once fell now refuses Kashmir. The cost of warming it didn’t cause

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. SRINAGAR: In the middle of Chilai Kalan—the 40-day period of harsh winter, typically from 21 December to 31 January, which once defined Kashmir’s coldest months—the Valley is waiting for snow that has yet to arrive. The ground remains bare, sunlight warms the day, and temperatures plunge sharply at night.

Winter is here, but the snow is missing. Last winter, Kashmir saw only brief spells of snow, none sustained. Across much of the Himalayan region, winters that are cold but largely snowless are becoming increasingly common, unsettling communities accustomed to a climate that once followed a familiar rhythm.

In Kashmir, back-to-back snow-deficient winters have left people caught between worry and disbelief, scanning the sky for signs that no longer come. In Srinagar’s downtown, locally known as Shahar-e-Khaas, elderly men linger outside shopfronts, trading memories of winters that once arrived on time. “When I was a child, December and January were thick with snow," said Ghulam Mohammad Tibet Baqal, (66), a resident of the Lal Bazar area of the city.

“One or two feet would stay frozen until the last week of February. Now those blessings have vanished." For decades, snow arrived in Kashmir without explanation or anxiety, filling December and January and lingering well into February. In Baqal’s lifetime, it was the Valley’s one certainty.

Now, for the first time, three winters have passed without adequate snowfall. Mountains that once held snow through the summer stand bare, while waterfalls fed by meltwater have fallen quiet. Despite its minimal industry and a net-negative emissions profile, Kashmir is losing its snow.