Syria's Rainfall Swings From Drought to Surplus in a Single Year

Seasonal rainfall over Syria's cropland, as a share of the 1991–2020 average. Orange bars mark below-average seasons; blue bars mark above-average ones.

Bar chart of seasonal rainfall over Syrian cropland from 1989/90 to 2025/26, shown as a percentage of the 1991–2020 average. Most seasons in the 1990s and 2000s were below average, with the lowest at 54% in 2007/08. Seasons since 2010 were mostly above average. Rainfall fell to 72% of average in 2024/25, the driest season since 2007/08, then rose to 168% in 2025/26, the second-wettest season in the series after 2018/19.

(Please use a modern browser to see the interactive version of this visualization)

Note: Seasons run from September to August and are labeled by start and end year. Figures are a simple average of 13 governorates (Damascus city excluded), not weighted by area. Rainfall is estimated by remote sensing over cropland only. It does not measure river flows: the Euphrates depends largely on releases from Türkiye. The 1991–2020 average is calculated from the same series. 2025/26 runs to September 21, 2026.

Chart: Benjamin FèveSource: WFP; ECMWF