The paper aims to present long time trend (117 years’ time series data) for rainfall in two mountain districts (Almora and Nainital) of Uttarakhand, India. The rainfall data was analyzed for monthly, seasonal and annual trends in rainfall as well as the concentration and variability of precipitation for the two districts using Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI). The PCI values indicate that both the districts have highly irregular rainfall distribution and concentration across the months which have disturbed the local economy either in agriculture or tourism of local people. It has also been observed that seasonal precipitation is either uniformly or moderately distributed and contribution of monsoon rainfall is about 85% of the mean annual rainfall for both the districts. There is significant increase in pre-monsoon rainfall and significant decrease in monsoon and annual rainfall for Almora whereas, highly significant increasing trend in pre-monsoon rainfall and increasing but not significant trend for annual rainfall has been observed for Nainital. The significant change in precipitation pattern and fluctuation in rainfall amounts of the two districts indicate climate change which has highly affected environment for humans and vegetation of the area and lichens in particular which is supported by the people’s perception study.   

Key words: Climate change, Himalayan districts, Lichen, Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI), Recipitation and Rainfall.

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