Abstract
Climate change is affecting agricultural productivity and economic stability across many parts of the world, but small islands like Sri Lanka are more vulnerable to the effects of climate change. As a result, assessing recent rainfall dynamics is crucial for developing effective climate adaptation measures. This study analysed rainfall data from 44 meteorological stations across Sri Lanka's dry, wet and intermediate climatic zones spanning 54 years (1970–2023) to evaluate rainfall dynamics. The analysis employed multiple statistical methods, including the coefficient of variation (CV), Precipitation Concentration Index (PCI), Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI), Mann–Kendall (MK) test with Sen's slope estimator and innovative trend analysis (ITA). Results revealed increasing annual rainfall trends at 79.5% of stations, with 40% showing statistically significant increases ( p p