Amid Floods and Deficits, India's 'Normal' Monsoon Feels Abnormal

Every year, India gets a big season of rain called the monsoon.

This year, the rain was very uneven across the country.

Some places got too much rain, causing floods and landslides, while other places got almost no rain at all.

Even though the total amount of rain seemed normal, some areas had nearly ten times more rain than usual in just one day.

The India Meteorological Department checks if the monsoon is normal by comparing the rain to what has fallen on average over many years.

But that number does not tell us where the rain fell, how hard it fell, or whether it arrived when crops needed it.

Hotter air from climate change can hold more water, so when it rains, it often rains very hard and very fast.

This can make dry places drier and wet places wetter.

Scientists are finding that weather is becoming harder to predict, even with clues like El Niño.

That is why a 'normal' monsoon does not feel normal anymore.