The near-term forecast through November indicates a significant retreat of exceptional deficits on the Arabian Peninsula though deficits will continue to emerge, reaching south into much of Yemen and southern Oman. Deficits in the Levant will downgrade to moderate. Exceptional deficits in Iraq west of the Euphrates are expected to become slightly less intense except in the south. Deficits will emerge throughout much of the eastern two-thirds of Iran. After November exceptional deficits are forecast to nearly disappear though widespread deficits of lesser intensity will continue to emerge.
Central Asia & Russia: Water surpluses forecast for Transvolga and Novosibirsk
Water surpluses of varying intensity are forecast in Russia from western European Russia through the Western Siberian Plain through February 2018 or longer, and are expected to be exceptional in the TransVolga region and in the Upper Ob River Basin surrounding Novosibirsk. Exceptional surpluses in Kazakhstan will transition to conditions of both deficit and surplus through February. Surpluses are forecast for Kyrgyzstan, especially Bishkek. Deficits in Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan are forecast to moderate somewhat in the near-term but persist, diminishing after November.
South Asia: Intense deficits forecast for central India, surpluses Bangladesh
A relatively consistent pattern of water anomalies is forecast from September through May characterized by exceptional deficits in central India and surpluses in Bangladesh, Nepal, and far eastern India. In the near-term, intense deficits are forecast in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh trailing west, east, and south. Deficits are also forecast in Karnataka, Goa, coastal Maharashtra, and southwestern Afghanistan and Pakistan. Exceptional surpluses will continue to emerge in Bangladesh, Tripura, and Mizoram. Some severe surpluses are forecast to emerge near Bengaluru, Karnataka. After November, severe to extreme deficits are forecast to emerge in Arunachal Pradesh.
Southeast Asia & the Pacific: Gradual transition from water surplus to deficit
The forecast indicates a transition away from widespread water surpluses and towards the gradual emergence of deficits. Exceptional deficits in western Cambodia are expected to persist through February or longer, but should diminish in extent after November. From September through November moderate deficits will begin to emerge in Thailand, the Malay Peninsula, southern Sumatra, and Java, and thereafter in Borneo and Sulawesi.
East Asia: Water surpluses in South China to diminish; deficits ahead for Hokkaido
Recent exceptional deficits in Mongolia, the Korean Peninsula, and Liaoning are expected to moderate in the near term – September through November. Widespread surpluses are expected to persist in southern China from Poyang Lake in Jiangxi southwest through Hunan into Guangxi and Yunnan, and the western Pearl River Delta, though the extent of exceptional surpluses will diminish considerably. The coastal southeast will transition from surplus to moderate deficit, a trend which is forecast to continue through May. After November, surpluses in Jiangxi through Yunnan will continue to diminish.