TEHRAN – the average rainfall in the country has returned to below normal once again after exceeding the long-term average two weeks ago.

Since the beginning of the current water year (September 23, 2025), until January 5, the country received an average rainfall of 76.2 mm, which was 6.6 percent higher than the 71.4 mm recorded in the long term, according to the Meteorological Organization.

From December 22 to January 5, the country received 23.8 percent more rain than the normal amount. However, from December 30 to January 5, the recorded precipitation amounted to 1.9 mm, which is 70.5 percent less than the normal amount of 6.4 mm.

Since the beginning of the current water year, rainfall has been normal in 11 provinces, including West Azarbaijan, Isfahan, South Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Sistan-Baluchestan, Kerman, Kordestan, Hormozgan, and Yazd; long-term average rainfall has been less than normal in other provinces, particularly Tehran, Qazvin, and Alborz.

Tehran province has experienced a significant decline in precipitation, receiving 76.9 percent less rain than the long-term average.

However, the Meteorological Organization’s prediction shows that the rainfall has returned to less than normal, though the prediction still indicates that precipitation in winter will be as much as the long-term average.

By January 5, the country had received 6.6 percent rainfall more than the normal rate. Based on the report, the average rainfall in the country from the beginning of the water year until January 9 returned to below the normal rate. 

In the past Iranian calendar year (March 2023 – March 2024), precipitation was 50 to 75 percent below normal in the southern parts of the country.

Over the past five years, the country has experienced consecutive droughts. Due to the significant reduction in autumn, winter, and spring rainfall, the previous water year (September 22, 2024 – September 22, 2025) was one of the exceptional drought years of Iran; it came to an end with 142.3 mm of precipitation, showing a 39.4 percent drop compared to the long-term figure of 234.9 mm, Ahad Vazifeh, the head of the climate change center at the Meteorological Organization, said in September 2025.