Weatherman Forecasts Dry Autumn

Based on meteorological surveys, Iran is not expected to receive much rainfall this fall and certain areas of the country will see between 10% and 20% decline in precipitation.

In addition, temperatures are predicted to be higher than average during the season, according to Shahrokh Fateh, head of the Drought and Crisis Management Center at Iran's Meteorological Organization.

"The severity of our struggle with drought depends on how we manage our resources today," said the official, Mizan Online reported.

He stressed that agricultural and industrial activities must be adapted to the local climate if Iran is to stand a chance of weathering the unrelenting drought that has been hanging around for more than 15 years.

"We need to revise our farming practices and adapt them with the country's water and climate conditions," said Fateh.

Although during the past water year (September 2015-16), precipitations were rather favorable in certain parts of Iran, albeit for short periods, the overall rainfall was 2% lower than the preceding year on a long-term scale.

Adequate rainfall helped alleviate drought conditions in many western regions for short periods. However, rainfall in the Central Iranian Plateau plummeted, compounding the struggle with drought.

Precipitation declined by 44% in Yazd, 34% in South Khorasan, 37% in Sistan-Baluchestan, 27% in Isfahan and 22% in Fars provinces during the past water year.  

Another issue that is exacerbating the dry conditions is the relative rise in temperatures, or what universally has come to be known as climate change. Over the past year temperatures were in the normal range for hardly three months. This past winter was abnormally warmer than normal, with the average temperature in the Persian month of Esfand (February – March) about 3.3 degrees Celsius warmer than normal.

"The rise in winter temperature meant we didn't receive much rainfall and what little snow there was on mountain peaks melted away rather quickly," Fateh said.