El Nino Suppresses India's 2026 Monsoon Rainfall, Reshapes Rain Patterns Worldwide
Four maps show how rainfall varied across regions during the first five months.
The 2026 El Nino event has completed five months since it began in May, with its influence already visible in rainfall patterns across several parts of the world. Although the weather phenomenon is not yet expected to have reached its peak strength, it has affected seasonal rainfall, including by suppressing India’s monsoon rainfall during the June-September period.
El Nino develops when ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific become unusually warm, influencing atmospheric circulation and shifting established rainfall patterns. Its effects are not uniform across the globe, meaning some regions can experience reduced rainfall while others receive wetter-than-usual conditions during the same period.
In India, the ongoing El Nino has been associated with weaker monsoon rainfall during the June-September season. The impact is significant because the southwest monsoon supplies a major share of the country’s annual rainfall and plays an important role in agriculture, water availability and other weather-dependent activities.
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Australia has also experienced changes in rainfall patterns during the current El Nino period. The phenomenon can alter the movement of moisture and atmospheric systems over the region, creating differences in rainfall distribution. The available maps highlight how the effects have varied geographically rather than producing a uniform change across the continent.
Across Asia and the Americas, the rainfall response has similarly differed from one region to another. El Nino can influence weather systems over large distances, but local conditions and seasonal atmospheric patterns determine how those changes appear in individual regions. The four maps provide a visual comparison of these rainfall variations across Australia, Asia and the Americas.
The current El Nino remains in a developing phase, with its peak influence yet to be reached. Its eventual strength and duration will determine how rainfall patterns evolve in different parts of the world. The early effects seen during the first five months therefore offer an indication of its influence, but the full impact on global rainfall will become clearer as the event progresses.
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