Iran’s Precipitation Rate Hits Record Low in 50 Years

Iran is unprecedentedly suffering from low precipitation and experiencing a prolonged drought and hopes for active rain or snowfall across the country have been dashed.

Iran’s Deputy Energy Minister, Rahim Meidani, says this year’s drought is unprecedented in the past 50 years.

Noting that there has been no good rainfall in the current Iranian calendar year, he said the situation in provinces located in arid and semi-arid areas such as Markazi, Qom, Semnan, Tehran, Alborz, and Isfahan provinces is way different than winters of few years ago.

This Iranian official also noted that in provinces where good rainfall was expected, like Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Lorestan, Hamadan and Kurdistan, the precipitation rate declined dramatically.

“Precipitation was only normal in Ardabil and Golestan provinces,” he added, a Farsi report by Tasnim said.

Meidani also mentioned that if this continues, the ministry will have problems in the field of power generation from hydroelectric power plants at the summer peak.

According to Iran’s meteorological organization Iran has experienced a 56-percent decrease in average precipitation over the period from September 23 to December 25 compared to the same period in the long run.

Moreover, nearly 96 percent of Iran’s total area is suffering from different levels of prolonged drought.