TEHRAN – Normal rainfall is expected for the next six weeks, ending on May 26th, all over the country, according to the National Atmospheric Science and Meteorological Research Center.

In the next three weeks, the air temperature is forecast to be 1 to 5 degrees lower than normal in the southern, central, and eastern regions of the country, but higher than normal in other parts, ISNA reported.

According to the latest rain forecast maps of the country, during the first week from April 15 to 21, precipitation will be concentrated in the south and southeast of the country, and some areas expect over 100 mm of rainfall with a probability of more than 75 percent.

Below-average precipitation is predicted in the northern part of the country and middle Zagros, with normal amounts in other areas.

During the second week, rainfall is projected to be within the normal range. This week, the probability of accumulated rainfall between 20 to 50 mm in the northwest of the country and the middle and northern Zagros regions is predicted to be less than 50 percent.

Above-normal rainfall is expected in the third and fourth weeks. The accumulated rainfall in the third week will be in the range of 50 mm in parts of the middle and northwest Zagros with a 75 percent probability.

The rainfall in the fifth and sixth weeks is estimated to be normal in most parts of the country.

The average air temperature in the first week will be 1 to 5 degrees above normal in Alborz mountains and  Zagros.

The most significant increase in temperature (3 to 5 degrees) is expected to occur in the northwest of the country.

Conversely, a decrease of 3 to 5 degrees is forecast for the southeast.

The temperature pattern of the second week is almost similar to that of the first.

In the third week, temperature will be 1 to 3 degrees above normal in the western and northern parts of the country; 1 to 2 degrees below normal in the south and southeast; and normal in other parts.

Normal temperature is predicted for the fourth week, but it is expected to be 1 to 2 degrees above normal in the fifth and sixth weeks.

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