Economies of the Asia Pacific region depend on the monsoon rains. These rains exhibit variability on a wide range of special and temporal scales, which are of critical importance to the vast population dependent on them. The intra-seasonal variability of the monsoon manifests itself as a series of rainy and dry spells that may extend from several days to weeks within the monsoon season. These spells influence day to day decision making in the region, have a cumulative effect at the seasonal scale, and may lead to widespread drought and floods. Therefore, prediction of seasonal rainfall and its variability (dry/wet spells) are indispensable for economic sectors, particularly in agriculture, irrigation and water resource management.

RIMES provides seasonal climate outlooks for users’ longer-term resource planning and management