Kedarnath has received the least snowfall this winter. This time, only about four feet of snow has accumulated in Dham, while last year there was about six feet of snow during this period. Last year, there was snowfall in the Dham during the entire Yatra period in May, September and October. After this there was no snowfall from November 17 till the end of December.
In the first 15 days of January this year, Kedarnath has received total snowfall of five feet. After this, only light snow fell on January 30. Manoj Semwal, who is involved in the reconstruction of Kedarnath, said that since the disaster, the Dham has received the least snowfall this winter.
In 2016, Dham received 40 feet of snow in the entire season, while in 2018, a record 64 feet of snow fell in the entire season. Then till February-March there was more than seven to eight feet of snow. There was good snowfall in 2019, which resulted in two icebergs being present on the footpath for the entire duration of the journey.
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Retired glaciologist from Wadia Institute, Dr. DP Doval says that there are about ten thousand small and big glaciers in the Himalayan range, which are being directly affected by the change in the weather cycle.
Last year after the middle of November till the end of December, there was no rain and snowfall, while in December it is necessary to have a thick layer of snow in the glaciers. The snowfall in the higher reaches in January-February is not capable of shaping the glaciers.
Four km above Kedarnath is the Chorabari Tal, which originates from the Mandakini river. The area of this glacier is about 14 km while the companion glacier adjacent to this glacier is seven km in area. In September-October last year, there were three incidents of iceberg breaking in these two glaciers.
