TEHRAN – A rainfall system remained active across much of Iran on Monday, with heavy precipitation and snowfall concentrated along the Caspian Sea coast and the Alborz highlands, while the country’s national rainfall average swung from 21 percent below normal to 41 percent above normal following a week of intense precipitation.
According to the Meteorological Organization, the system was active on Monday in East Azerbaijan, Ardabil, Gilan, Mazandaran, Golestan, North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, northern South Khorasan, the heights of Semnan, the northern half of Tehran, Alborz, Qazvin and Zanjan provinces, with rainfall continuing in parts of Kurdistan, Kermanshah, Hamadan, Markazi, Lorestan, Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, the heights of Khuzestan, Bushehr, and western and southern Fars. 
Precipitation was described as intense along the Caspian coast and Alborz highlands, falling as snow in cold and high-altitude areas.
A noticeable drop in temperature was forecast across most of the country from Monday through Wednesday, particularly in the northern and eastern halves, with the Caspian Sea and Persian Gulf expected to be rough over the next three days.
Ahad Vazifeh, head of the National Center for Climate and Drought Crisis Management, said
 the country’s average rainfall from the start of the water year on September 22 through November 7 reached 22.3 millimeters, roughly 41 percent above the long-term average of 15.8 millimeters. 
As recently as November 3, the average had stood at 21 percent below normal, he said, adding that rainfall over the past seven days alone totaled 14.2 millimeters—more than 2.5 times the long-term average for that week .
Twenty-four provinces were recording above-normal precipitation, with Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at 114 millimeters, Lorestan at 98, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad at 79 and Alborz at 76 showing the largest jumps. 
The highest 24-hour rainfall at synoptic stations was recorded at Kuhrang in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari at approximately 165 millimeters.
Despite the improvement, Gilan and Mazandaran remained below normal, while South Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Semnan, Sistan and Baluchestan and Yazd continued to face rainfall deficits. Vazifeh noted that only 9.5 percent of the water year’s total precipitation had been received so far.
Vazifeh said rainfall in Tehran would continue through Monday night and stop on Tuesday, while precipitation along the northern coast would persist into Tuesday, with greater intensity in eastern Mazandaran and Golestan. 
The southern regions were expected to see the system largely end on Monday, with no significant rainfall forecast for Tuesday. 
A relatively weak wave was expected to enter from the Persian Gulf on Wednesday, bringing scattered and light rain to parts of southern Bushehr, southern Fars, Hormozgan, Kerman and South Khorasan before weakening.
For the coming week, no significant rainfall was forecast, with relatively dry and low-precipitation conditions expected across most of the country.