The extent of exceptional water deficits will diminish considerably through February in Southern Europe leaving primarily moderate deficits on the Iberian Peninsula, France, and Italy, with more intense deficits in southeastern France. Exceptional surpluses will continue to emerge in western European Russia and Poland and will emerge in Belarus. Surpluses of varying severity will emerge in greater extent in Central and Eastern Europe. After February the extent and intensity of surpluses in Russia, Central, and Eastern Europe will diminish but surpluses will remain intense in central Poland.
Middle East: Widespread deficits forecast to persist, esp Israel & Lebanon
Widespread exceptional deficits observed in the prior three months are expected to moderate considerably through February, though extreme deficits are in the forecast for Lebanon and Israel. Deficits of slightly lesser intensity, but still severe, are forecast for southeastern Turkey, Syria, pockets throughout Iraq, central Iran, northern Saudi Arabia, and southwestern Yemen. Primarily moderate deficits are forecast nearly everywhere else. After February, deficits on the Arabian Peninsula are expected to ratchet up in intensity, and moderate deficits will continue to emerge in Turkey.
Africa: Water deficits to recede in southern Africa; surpluses in Tanzania
The near-term forecast indicates continued improvement in water conditions in southern Africa as exceptional deficits nearly disappear. Intense deficits are, however, expected in Lesotho. Deficits are forecast across northern Africa including pockets of exceptional deficit in western Mauritania through Guinea-Bissau, scattered around the Gulf of Guinea, small pockets across the southern Sahara, and in southeastern Ethiopia. Surpluses are expected in southern Sudan, South Sudan, western Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, western DRC, and western CAR into Cameroon. After February intense deficits will emerge in the north.
South Asia: Widespread water deficits forecast in India, esp Madhya Pradesh & Karnataka
Through May 2018 intense water deficits are forecast in central India and intense water surpluses in Bangladesh. In the near-term through February, deficits are forecast throughout most of India with exceptional deficits expected in eastern Gujarat and Karnataka. Exceptional surpluses are expected in West Bengal, Tripura, Mizoram, eastern Jammu and Kashmir, and the Pennar River Basin in southern India. Moderate deficits are forecast for Pakistan and Afghanistan with some pockets of exceptional deficit in the northeast. Surpluses are forecast for western Bhutan and much of Nepal.
South America: Intense water deficits to emerge in Rio Grande do Norte, Paraiba, Pernambuco
Exceptional water deficits are forecast to diminish considerably over the next three months except in the western Amazon Basin in Brazil and Acre, Rondônia, Mato Grosso, and Tocantins. Deficits are also expected across Brazil’s Northeast region. Elsewhere on the continent, intense deficits are expected in western Bolivia and the Gulf of Corcovado, Chile. Areas of surpluses include central Colombia; Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil; and La Pampa Province, Argentina. After February widespread surpluses will emerge in the northern Amazon Basin and Venezuela, Guyana, and Suriname.