A short answer in plain words: whether rain over the last one, three or six months was well below, below, about, above or well above normal, and the same for crop growth. You also get the numbers, a chart of every year since 1991 and a one-page PDF.

What counts as "normal"?

The same months in each year from 1991 to 2020 for rain, and from 2001 to 2020 for crop growth. "About normal" is the middle third of those years; "below" and "above" are the lower and upper thirds; "well below" and "well above" are the lowest and highest tenth.

Why do you look at farmland?

Crops show a poor season sooner and more clearly than forest does. If at least 5% of the district is farmland, we measure greenness there; otherwise we use all vegetated land, and the answer says so.

Can I use the answer in a report?

Yes, in reports, funding bids and presentations. Keep the line "Generated at TechnicalGIS.com" and the data credits. Each answer has its own link and is kept for 90 days.

Is this an official drought warning?

No. Official drought and food-security warnings also use field surveys and market prices. This answer is a quick, independent check you can bring to those conversations.

Season condition

Choose your district and we'll tell you whether this season's rain and crop growth are better or worse than usual. You get a plain answer, the numbers, a chart and a one-page sheet to print or share. It takes about a minute and works on a phone.

1. Choose your district

Country

2. Choose the months

How long Up to

Choose a country and a district first.

Usually ready in about one minute. Free, up to 15 new questions a day each; answers we've already worked out are instant and don't count. Privacy.

Choose a country to see its districts, then tap one to pick it.

District boundaries from geoBoundaries, simplified for the web.

Also try Flood impact, or Farm check for one farm.

How it works

Rain. We add up CHIRPS satellite rainfall (about 5 km squares) across your district for the months you chose, and compare it with the same months in every year from 1991 to 2020.
Crop growth. We average the MODIS greenness score (NDVI, 250 m) over the district's farmland and compare it with the same months from 2001 to 2020.
The answer. We rank this year against those years and put it in words, from "well below normal" to "well above normal".

Each answer ends with one line on how much weight it can bear: a good, fair or rough guide. Small districts, cloudy months and the first weeks of a season make it rougher. A district average can hide a dry corner, so if you need a closer look, talk to us.

We use only data whose licence allows anyone to reuse the results, and we credit every source with every answer. No personal or household data is used.

Data and credits

Licences checked on each provider's own page, last on 29 October 2026.

Source	Licence	Credit
CHIRPS v3 rainfall	CC BY 4.0	UCSB Climate Hazards Center CHIRPS version 3.0, processed by dynamical.org. Funk, C. et al. (2026), Sci Data 13, 718. https://doi.org/10.15780/G2JQ0P. CC BY 4.0.
MODIS MOD13Q1 v061 vegetation index	NASA open data, no restrictions on use	MODIS MOD13Q1 v061: Didan, K. (2021). NASA EOSDIS LP DAAC. https://doi.org/10.5067/MODIS/MOD13Q1.061. Accessed via Microsoft Planetary Computer. Use does not imply endorsement by NASA.
ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover	CC BY 4.0	© ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by ESA WorldCover consortium. CC BY 4.0.
geoBoundaries administrative boundaries	Per country (CC BY, ODbL or open government licence)	Runfola, D. et al. (2020) geoBoundaries: A global database of political administrative boundaries. PLoS ONE 15(4): e0231866.

Questions

What will I get?: A short answer in plain words: whether rain over the last one, three or six months was well below, below, about, above or well above normal, and the same for crop growth. You also get the numbers, a chart of every year since 1991 and a one-page PDF.
What counts as "normal"?: The same months in each year from 1991 to 2020 for rain, and from 2001 to 2020 for crop growth. "About normal" is the middle third of those years; "below" and "above" are the lower and upper thirds; "well below" and "well above" are the lowest and highest tenth.
Why do you look at farmland?: Crops show a poor season sooner and more clearly than forest does. If at least 5% of the district is farmland, we measure greenness there; otherwise we use all vegetated land, and the answer says so.
Can I use the answer in a report?: Yes, in reports, funding bids and presentations. Keep the line "Generated at TechnicalGIS.com" and the data credits. Each answer has its own link and is kept for 90 days.
Is this an official drought warning?: No. Official drought and food-security warnings also use field surveys and market prices. This answer is a quick, independent check you can bring to those conversations.

Checking one farm rather than a district? Try Farm check. See two worked examples or read what we're for.