RAIN RAIN GO AWAY

A drier and wetter India

In the era of climate change, India is getting drier and wetter. It depends on where you live.

Sriharsha Devulapalli

India has always been vulnerable to extreme weather events. Droughts in particular have been more regularly reoccuring in the last few years. Data shows that change in rainfall patterns have an impact on it. An analysis of rainfall data reveals that the Gangetic plain, home to three hundred million people has seen a drastic decline in rainfall in the 2010s.

Change in Annual Rainfall (2010s)

compared to historical average (1950-2000)

Extreme Deficient

Deficient

Below Normal

Above Normal

Excess

Large Excess

DELHI

Lucknow

Guwahati

Patna

Ahmedabad

Kolkata

Mumbai

Hyderabad

Bengaluru

Chennai

Source : Pai D.S., Latha Sridhar, Rajeevan M., Sreejith O.P., Satbhai N.S. and Mukhopadhyay B., 2014: Development of a new high spatial resolution (0.25° X 0.25°)Long period (1901-2010) daily gridded rainfall data set over India and its comparison with existing data sets over the region; MAUSAM, 65, 1(January 2014), pp1-18.

Change in Annual Rainfall (2010s)

compared to historical average (1950-2000)

Extreme Deficient

Deficient

Below Normal

Above Normal

Excess

Large Excess

DELHI

Lucknow

Guwahati

Patna

Ahmedabad

Kolkata

Mumbai

Hyderabad

Bengaluru

Chennai

Source : Pai D.S., Latha Sridhar, Rajeevan M., Sreejith O.P., Satbhai N.S. and Mukhopadhyay B., 2014: Development of a new high spatial resolution (0.25° X 0.25°)Long period (1901-2010) daily gridded rainfall data set over India and its comparison with existing data sets over the region; MAUSAM, 65, 1(January 2014), pp1-18.

Change in Annual Rainfall (2010s)

compared to historical average (1950-2000)

Extreme Deficient

Deficient

Below Normal

Above Normal

Excess

Large Excess

DELHI

Lucknow

Guwahati

Patna

Ahmedabad

Kolkata

Mumbai

Hyderabad

Bengaluru

Chennai

Source : Pai D.S., Latha Sridhar, Rajeevan M., Sreejith O.P., Satbhai N.S. and Mukhopadhyay B., 2014: Development of a new high spatial resolution (0.25° X 0.25°)Long period (1901-2010) daily gridded rainfall data set over India and its comparison with existing data sets over the region; MAUSAM, 65, 1(January 2014), pp1-18.

The map above, created using data from researchers at the Indian Meterological Department shows that the western parts of the country got more rain in the 2010s than their historical averages. It is unclear whether the changes in rainfall this decade are a permanent feature of our warming climate or they reflect long term weather variability. But it is consistent with predictions from models which expect to see drastic changes. This story is a work in progress. Please find the github repository here .