Shimla, January 24, 2026:
The higher apple belt of Shimla district has witnessed one of its heaviest snowfalls in recent years, with Khirki, Charki and Shilgrahan areas of Chopal subdivision and rest of the apple belt recording over three feet of snow—and the snowfall was still continuing.
This apple belt is not alone. From Dalhousie and Dharamshala to Atal Tunnel and Malana, from Shantha in Chopal to Shrauntha in Rohru, the hills of Himachal look white, demonstrating that the hill state has experienced widespread snowfall this season.
As many as 1291 roads are blocked due to snow in the state that reinforces the fact that winter seasonal snowfall is still alive and kicking.
This is the first time in recent years that Himachal has received such heavy snowfall in one spell, effectively puncturing the sweeping claim that climate change has already wiped out snowfall in Himachal’s higher reaches, what to talk of lower areas.
From Khirki to Nerwa at 1500 ft, snowfall has blanketed the entire region. Shantha village had recorded over 2 and half ft of snow, bringing a relief from long dry spell.
Veteran locals and orchardists point out that snowfall between late November and March has always been normal for the higher apple belt of Shimla, Kullu, Kinnaur, Kangra, Mandi, Chamba and Lahaul-Spiti district.
What has changed is not the seasonality, but the long gaps between heavy spells.
Maila, a PWD Department caretaker stationed at Khirki, said that more than three-and-a-half feet of snow has accumulated so far here.
The entire mountainous stretch from Chopal to Khirki and Maroag is buried under a thick white blanket, bringing all vehicular movement to a complete standstill for the past 24 hours.
The Sainj–Deha–Khirki–Charki–Chopal–Nerwa state highway remains blocked, and the Public Works Department has not been able to begin restoration work due to continuous snowfall.
Authorities say it may take at least a couple of days to clear the roads once the weather improves, which the IMD has tentatively predicted for later today or tomorrow.
A major concern had emerged at the Gosadan in Chopal, where more than 300 cows are housed. The shelter collapsed under three ft of snow.
However, Gaurakshak Malkhiram confirmed that all cattle are safe as they worked through the night to save them. "We have feed but it is challenging to keep Gau Mata safe", he said urging the volunteers to donate for gau sadan".
The snowfall has not been limited to Chopal alone. The Khadapathar–Deori Ghat–Baghi, Khadrada belt—an extension of the Chopal–Khirki–Charki–Chhatradhar–Kupparh-Moraldanda–Sungri range in the upper Jubbal and Kotkhai and Rohru apple belt —has recorded snowfall ranging from two feet to four feet, with Moraldanda and Kuparh receiving over three feet and Chhatradhar getting more than four feet.
Churdhar, the revered pilgrimage centre and stronghold of Devsilgur, has been hit by more than five feet of snow, with snowfall still continuing.
According to a sevak stationed at Churdhar, this is among the heaviest snowfalls recorded there in a single spell in recent times.
While the weather has begun to brighten in Shimla city, higher areas including Jakhu, Sanjauli, Kufri, Fagu and Narkanda ski resort have recorded two feet of snow.
Narkanda ski resort lure skiers from across India as it has recorded over three ft of snow. Similarly, apple belt of Kotgarh, Kumarsain has experienced good spell of snow, cheering up apple farmers and hoteliers.
Traffic within Shimla city remained affected, while the Chandigarh–Shimla–Kufri- Narkanda national highway stayed closed for over 24 hours. Emergency vehicles are being diverted via the Kingle–Rampur–Kinnaur route, though traffic in many parts of Kinnaur has also been halted due to fresh snowfall.
The higher reaches of Kinnaur, including Kalpa, famous Nako Lake is frozen under cover of snow as well as parts of Lahaul-Spiti, recorded one to three feet of snow in the last 24 hours.
Exact figures are still awaited, with questions being quietly raised about whether all IMD weather stations in these remote regions are fully functional.
Several tourists were stranded on the Shoghi–Taradevi stretch and other approach roads to Shimla due to slippery conditions, adding to the chaos caused by the sudden and intense weather spell.
For apple growers, however, the snowfall has come as a much-needed boost, replenishing soil moisture and reinforcing the belief that nature, though erratic, has not entirely abandoned the Himalayas yet.
The heavy snowfall in Shilgrahan, Khirki and Charki, with over three feet recorded and more than four feet at Churdhar, underlines a basic scientific truth: weather events are not climate trends.
Snowfall between November and March remains normal for the higher reaches of Himachal and is driven by western disturbances, not by activist narratives.
One intense spell cannot be selectively used to argue either climate collapse or climate denial.
For years, climate-change discourse in the Himalayas has leaned heavily on short-term dry phases to declare the “end of snow”.
This snowfall exposes the flaw in that logic. Mountain climates are inherently erratic, marked by long gaps and sudden extremes, not by smooth, linear decline.
This does not negate climate change, but it decisively challenges alarmism built on seasonal memory loss.
Climate assessment demands multi-decadal data, not emotional conclusions drawn from a few winters. In the fragile Himalayas, exaggeration is as unscientific—and as harmful—as denial. Himalayas, true to its name will last longer than predicted by the "climate alarmists".
