Rainfall improved to normal levels in July, but the deficit returned in August and continued through September. India’s 2026 monsoon began with a rainfall crisis that July’s recovery could not make up for.
Rainfall deficit crossed the rainfall-deficiency threshold used in the definition of an all-India drought year. The July recovery was not enough to offset the shortfall in the other three months. Historical figures in the data show that several El Nino years also recorded monsoon rainfall deficits.
The 2026 season therefore saw a strengthening El Nino alongside a neutral IOD. India received 759.4 mm of rainfall between June and September, against an LPA of 868.6 mm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The season’s rainfall was 87 per cent of the LPA, making 2026 the fourth-lowest monsoon rainfall year since 2001 and the 13th lowest since 1901. It was also the lowest seasonal monsoon rainfall in a decade, since 2015. The season ended with rainfall 12.6 per cent below LPA, as El Nino strengthened in the Pacific Ocean. How Was The Monsoon In 2026 June recorded 106.8 mm of rainfall, just 65 per cent of its LPA of 165.3 mm. July brought a recovery, with 283.3 mm, or 101 per cent of normal. However, rainfall fell to 213.3 mm in August, 84 per cent of the LPA, before reaching 155.1 mm in September, 92 per cent of normal.
