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This paper investigates the annual and seasonal variations in the minimum and maximum air temperature (T_min and T_max) and precipitation over Kashmir valley, Northwestern Himalayas from 1980–2019 by using the innovative trend analysis (ITA), Mann-Kendall (MK), and Sen’s slope estimator methods. The results indicated that the annual and seasonal T_min and T_max are increasing for all the six climatic stations, whereas four of them exhibit significant increasing trends at (α = 0.05). Moreover, this increase in T_min and T_max was found more pronounced at higher altitude stations, i.e., Pahalgam (2650 m asl) and Gulmarg (2740 m asl). The annual and seasonal precipitation patterns for all climatic stations showed downward trends. For instance, Gulmarg station exhibited a significant downward trend for the annual, spring, and winter seasons (α = 0.05). Whereas, Qazigund showed a significant downward trend for the annual and spring seasons (α = 0.05). The overall analysis revealed that the increased T_min and T_max trends during the winter season are one of the reasons behind the early onset of melting of snow and the corresponding spring season. Furthermore, the observed decreased precipitation trends could result in making the region vulnerable towards drier climatic extremes. Such changes in the region’s hydro-meteorological processes shall have severe implications on the delicate ecological balance of the fragile environment of the Kashmir valley.