TEHRAN –The Meteorological Research Center has predicted an average normal to above-normal rainfall for the country over the six weeks ending May 12.

The temperature will be below normal across the country in the next two weeks except in the northeast, and above normal in the rest of the mentioned period.

In the first week of April, average rainfall will be less than normal and the temperature is predicted to be more-than-normal in the northwest, but below normal in the east.

However, wetter-than-normal conditions are expected in the second week of April with the temperature to be normal in northwest and northeast, but less than normal in other parts.

From April 15 to 21, rainfall will be normal nationwide. The temperature is forecast to be normal in the east and southeast, while it will be above normal in other parts.

In the last week of April and the first week of May, precipitations will be normal in most parts except for the northeast where it will be below normal. Above-normal temperature is likely over most parts.

From May 6 to 12, the rainfall will be normal and above normal across the country with mild temperatures.

In the past year that ended on March 19, the amount of rainfall in the country decreased by 26 and 16 percent, respectively, compared to the long-term average, and the previous water year.

Since the beginning of autumn which is the start of the current water year, an average of 118 mm of rain has been recorded nationwide, Ahad Vazifeh, head of the national center for drought and crisis management, said on March 11.

The long-term average recorded last year was equal to 141 mm.

Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman, Semnan, Khorasan Razavi, Qazvin, Alborz, Tehran, Lorestan, and Kohgiluyeh–Boyerahmad provinces have had low rainfall.

Kerman, Qazvin, Tehran, and Alborz provinces have received 50, 39, 33, and 34 percent less rainfall than the long-term average.

Mazandaran, Golestan, Kuodestan, and Sistan-Baluchestan provinces have recorded more rainfall compared to the long-term average.

Vazifeh went on to say that the average temperature of the country has been 13.3 °C since the beginning of fall, September 23, which compared to the three-year period figure,11.3 °C, shows the temperature has increased by 2 °C over time.

Since the beginning of winter, the temperature has been 9.1 degrees, while it had been 7.1 degrees in long-term average. The last two months of the fall this year were the hottest months on record in the past 50 years, Vazifeh added.

MT/MG