India Rainfall Forecast Map

What's on the Map

• Total Rain · 6h — accumulated rainfall (mm) in each 6-hour forecast window.
• Total Rain · 24h (Daily) — accumulated rainfall (mm) per forecast day, stepped across the run.
• Total Rain · Cumulative — running total rainfall (mm) from the start of the forecast to each timestep.
• Rain + Radar Flash — 6-hourly rainfall with an animated convective-cell flash overlay for spotting active thunderstorm activity.
• Composite Reflectivity — simulated radar reflectivity (dBZ), a proxy for storm intensity and precipitation type.

GFS at 0.25° resolution can significantly underestimate orographic rainfall over steep terrain such as the Western Ghats and Himalayan foothills — use the map for spatial pattern guidance rather than point-precise values, and see individual state forecast pages for district-level context.

Questions This Page Answers

• Will my district see Heavy Rain in the next ten days — and on which dates?
• When does a rain band arrive and clear over the next day or two?
• How much will a multi-day spell add up to by the time it ends?

How to Read It

• Judge intensity on the 24-hour layer. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) categories are daily totals: Heavy Rain 64.5–115.5 mm, Very Heavy Rain 115.6–204.4 mm, Extremely Heavy Rain 204.5 mm or more. A 6-hour value is not comparable with these thresholds.
• Use the 6-hour layer for timing — step through it to see when rain starts and stops, then switch to Cumulative for the event total.
• Treat Composite Reflectivity as a storm-core signal. Values of roughly 40 dBZ and above usually mean intense convective rain; broad, weaker returns suggest steadier rain.
• Read patterns, not points. A 25 km model grid smooths out local downpours and underestimates rain on steep slopes, so a coloured band marks where rain is likely rather than the exact total at your village.

Go Deeper

• District weather warnings — the same forecast translated into Yellow, Orange and Red warnings for 754 districts.
• What an impact-based district warning actually says — why the same 40 mm means different things in different districts.
• Monsoon hub — the season calendar, VayuMet's monsoon tools and every sub-seasonal update.

Data Source

Related Pages

For a written monsoon rainfall analysis, see the GFS Model India Rainfall Forecast blog post and the Monsoon 2026 Monitor for forecast-vs-actual seasonal comparison. For a single district's 10-day rainfall time series, use the District 10-Day Forecast.