Impact of 2022 Heatwave and 2023 Extreme Summer Snowfall on the Western Himalaya

Scientific Reports, 29 April 2026

Extreme weather events increasingly shape how Himalayan glaciers gain and lose ice from year to year. Chhota Shigri Glacier in the western Himalaya experienced its worst ice loss on record during 2022 after unusually intense spring and summer heatwaves affected mountain regions across the Northern Hemisphere, including the Himalaya, Alps, Rockies, and Tibetan Plateau. Just one year later however, Chhota Shigri temporarily recovered some of its size when cooler spring temperatures alongside extreme summer snowfall slowed melting in 2023. More than 0.3 meters of snow fell over three days in July 2023, covering the glacier with fresh snow that reflected sunlight and slowed ice loss. The study shows how short-lived weather extremes strongly affect glacier conditions in individual years, even as long-term glacier decline continues.

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