Staff Reporter
Guwahati: At a time when the people in the Northeast are looking to the skies for the much-awaited rainfall, especially in Guwahati, where a severe dusty condition is creating havoc, there is more bad news in the offing. A report by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) now states that the Northeast is likely to experience below-normal rainfall in March.
Significantly, a recent report by the IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) at Guwahati stated that three states—Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, and Nagaland—recorded Large Deficient (LD) rainfall, while four other NE states—Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Tripura—received No Rain at all from January 1 to the morning of February 25, 2026. Although some parts of Upper Assam received a little rain in the past week, Guwahati and other parts of Lower Assam didn’t receive any rainfall.
On Saturday, the IMD issued a report titled ‘Outlook for the Seasonal Temperatures during the Hot Weather Season (March to May) and Monthly Rainfall and Temperatures During March, 2026’.
Regarding ‘Monthly Rainfall Outlook for March 2026’, the report stated that the rainfall during March 2026, averaged over the country, is most likely to be normal (83-117% of LPA). The Long Period Average (LPA) of rainfall over the country during March, based on data from 1971 to 2020, is about 29.9 mm.
However, the cause of alarm for the NE states is the part in the report which states, “The forecast suggests that normal to above-normal rainfall is likely over many parts of the country except northeast India and some parts of northwest and eastcentral India, where below-normal rainfall is likely.”
On the temperatures likely to prevail in the near future, the report stated, “During the upcoming hot weather season (March to May (MAM)), above-normal maximum temperatures are very likely over most parts of the country, except over some parts of Northwest and Central India, where normal or below-normal maximum temperatures are very likely. During the season (MAM), above-normal minimum temperatures are very likely over most parts of the country except some parts of South Peninsular India and isolated regions of the remaining parts of the country where normal to below-normal minimum temperatures are likely.”
The part about the NE region states, “During March 2026, monthly maximum temperatures are likely to be normal to below normal over many parts of India, except northeast India, adjoining east India and some parts of Western Himalayan region and central & Peninsular India, where above-normal maximum temperatures are likely.”
The report indicates less than normal rainfall and above-normal temperatures for the NE region in the month of March, which started today.
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