Drought indicators in Syria improved in April 2026 compared with the same month in 2025, with remote sensing data showing clear differences in favor of the current year.
This comes as part of the “Syria Drought Monitoring Project,” implemented by the General Authority for Remote Sensing in cooperation with the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture, which issues a monthly bulletin on drought conditions in the country.
The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index, NDVI, showed higher values in April 2026 compared with 2025 across all Syrian governorates, especially al-Hasakah, al-Raqqa, Aleppo, and the Syrian Badia.
According to the authority, this can be considered a positive indicator of good production for winter season crops.
Changes in vegetation index values for April 2026 compared with the 20-year average values for April. (Syrian General Authority for Remote Sensing)
Maps accompanying the changes in index values, based on the 25-year average NDVI value, also showed an increase exceeding 20% in April 2026, compared with a decline exceeding 20% on the April 2025 map.
As for the Vegetation Health Index, VHI, it showed no drought across the entire area of Syria in April 2026, while in 2025 it recorded very severe drought in al-Hasakah and some areas of Aleppo, al-Raqqa, and Hama, and drought across the remaining areas.
An “Exceptional” Situation in Syria’s Coastal Mountain Belt
May this year also brought a strong rainy pattern reminiscent of wet spring seasons, according to the Meteorological Center in Tartus, as the mountains saw notable rainfall.
The al-Qadmous area recorded the highest rainfall in recent days, at 115 millimeters, followed by Jabab al-Shaykh Badr at 109 millimeters and Hammam Wasel at 102 millimeters, with high figures approaching 97 millimeters in Safita, al-Findara, al-Shaykh Badr, and Duraykish in rural Tartus Governorate.
The heavy rainfall over short periods was accompanied by hail showers that caused damage, mostly agricultural, in some areas, including to summer crops. Southwestern winds also became active.
By contrast, the coastal strip remained less affected, in a clear contrast that reflects the strength of orographic lift in the mountain belt, according to the center.
Compared with climate records, May 2026 is placing itself among the most prominent rainy months of May in recent decades, alongside 1992, 2004, 2018, and 2020, especially after the al-Qadmous station exceeded the 1,720-millimeter threshold since the start of the current season, reaching 138% of the general rainfall average.
In 2025, Syria entered a water crisis, especially after river and spring water levels fell dangerously, and climate changes caused higher temperatures and lower rainfall, affecting the agricultural sector.
Syria faced an acute agricultural crisis at the time due to a drought wave described as the “worst” in more than six decades, threatening wheat crops and increasing the risk of food insecurity for around 16 million people, according to United Nations estimates.
Drought, harsh climate conditions, reduced rainfall rates, and the shorter winter season in 2025 damaged around 2.5 million hectares of wheat-planted land, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO.
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