Uttarakhand has recorded extreme weather on 65% of monsoon days so far — up from 33% in 2022.
Scientists cite climate change as a key driver, warning that the worst may still be ahead this season.
Flash floods and landslides have claimed 48 lives, with over 100 missing after the latest disaster in Uttarkashi.
Scientists link the surge in extreme events to climate change, with the IMD reporting Uttarakhand’s warmest monsoon since 1901 in 2024, marked by record-high temperatures and intensified rainfall due to a warmer, moisture-laden atmosphere.
Experts warn that poor planning, rapid infrastructure growth and weak early warning systems are worsening the crisis.
Uttarakhand is experiencing its most extreme monsoon since 2022. From June 1 to August 5, 2025, the state recorded 43 days of extreme weather out of 66, the highest for this period in the past four years. This marks a steady year-on-year increase, up from 39 days in 2024, 31 in 2023 and 22 in 2022, according to an analysis by Down To Earth (DTE) magazine and Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) based on its India’s Atlas on Weather Disasters.
This means that 65 per cent of the days so far this monsoon (up to August 5) have seen extreme weather events — up from 59 per cent in 2024, 47 per cent in 2023 and 33 per cent in 2022. The trend is clear: each year is worse than the one before.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the monsoon spans 122 days from June to September. With August 5 marking the halfway point, 56 days remain until the season officially ends on September 30. Yet the state has already witnessed 43 extreme weather days — almost equal to the total recorded during the full monsoon season in 2022 (44 days).
Further analysis shows a consistent pattern since 2022: the second half of the monsoon (August 6– September 30) has typically recorded almost as many extreme weather days as the first half.
If the pattern holds, Uttarakhand could experience another 40 to 43 extreme weather days by the end of September, taking the total for the monsoon to 83-86 days — the highest in four years.
This worsening trend is already taking a deadly toll. Between June and August 5 this year, at least 48 people have died in Uttarakhand due to weather-related disasters. That figure accounts for 86 per cent of the total deaths (56) reported in the entire monsoon season of 2022 and nearly half (46 per cent) of those in 2023, when 104 lives were lost.
And the toll may rise. On August 5, flash floods struck Dharali village in Uttarkashi district, sweeping away homes and residents. Four deaths have been confirmed so far, but more than 100 people remain missing.
The Uttarakhand government initially described the disaster as a “cloudburst”. However, the IMD clarified that the event did not meet the technical definition: A cloudburst refers to at least 10 centimetres of rainfall in one hour over a small area. In Dharali, the disaster was caused by sustained, heavy rainfall over several hours.
According to Rohit Thapliyal, the IMD’s officer-in-charge in Dehradun, only light to moderate rainfall was officially recorded in Uttarkashi district. But on the ground, the impact was anything but ordinary. Akshay Deoras, a research scientist at the University of Reading, described the deluge as “extreme”.
“Between August 5 and 6, Uttarkashi district received 421 per cent above-average rainfall,” said Deoras. “In just seven hours on August 5, over 100 mm of rain was recorded in the region. Neighbouring areas reportedly received over 400 mm within a few hours, nearly two-thirds of London Heathrow’s average annual rainfall.”
The event at Dharali reflects a growing crisis across the Himalayan region. Uttarakhand is one of 13 Himalayan states that have witnessed extreme weather on nearly 70 per cent of monsoon days over the past three years, according to an analysis by DTE and the CSE.
Scientists widely attribute this surge in extreme events to climate change. The IMD’s annual climate statement for 2024 confirmed that Uttarakhand recorded its warmest monsoon season since 1901, with average temperatures 1.5 degrees Celsius (°C) above normal. June 2024 alone saw maximum temperatures 3.8°C above average, while minimums were 1.8°C higher. A warmer atmosphere holds more moisture, resulting in far heavier downpours when it rains.
“We are witnessing the violent collision of an overheated, moisture-hungry atmosphere with fragile mountain ecosystems,” explained Deoras. “Climate change is intensifying these extremes, since monsoon storms now form in a warmer atmosphere that dumps far more water in short bursts — leading to flash floods and landslides.”
“What’s worse is that many of these regions lack real-time weather surveillance and effective early warning systems,” he added. “As extreme events grow more frequent, we’re flying blind into disaster. The stakes are rising and ignoring them comes at a deadly cost.”
Compounding the crisis is the rapid transformation of the landscape. Since 2014, road and infrastructure development in Uttarakhand has surged, often at the expense of ecological stability. According to Shekhar Pathak, founder of the People’s Association for Himalayan Area Research, a decade of haphazard construction, deforestation and disrupted drainage systems has made many areas more vulnerable to disaster.
As the monsoon continues, all signs suggest the worst may be yet to come.