TEHRAN – Torrential rains and unprecedented flooding recently hitting the country is the result of climate change, head of Iran’s Meteorological Organization (IMO) has stated.

That Iran is going through a wet spell is a misconception, so the country is still affected by drought; and floods are climate-related issues, ISNA quoted Sahar Tajbakhsh as saying on Sunday.

The country received 204 millimeters of precipitations since the beginning of the current water year (September 23, 2018) which indicates a 22-percent rise compared to the long term averages, she said.

Moreover, rainfalls amounted to 119 millimeters during the winter which shows a rise by 13 percent compared to the long term means, she added.

Weather forecasts are provided in short, medium and long terms, and they are not entirely reliable, she stated, adding that “we issue an announcement 72 hours prior to any incident, and forecast the weather 48 hours ahead of the event.

She went on to say that IMO is able to predict weather condition 15-day before, however, forecasting precipitations is more precise 2 or 3 days before the event.

She further concluded that the IMO had issued 150 announcements, 90 warnings to responsible agencies and 1950 radio and television reports in risky situations during recent floods.

FB/MQ/MG

