Normally, the monsoon enters Nepal on the second week of June, takes a week’s period to scurry throughout the country and extends till the third week of September.  

“The entry of the monsoon rains is being delayed due to unfavourable weather condition, which is stopping the south-easterly winds along the Bay of Bengal to the eastern region of Nepal,” said Shanta Kandel, a meteorologist at the MFD.

A depression has formed over east-central Arabian Sea on Monday, which is likely to intensify further and move towards north-northwest direction, retreating the rainfall activity towards Nepal.

The southwestern summer monsoon that occurs in many parts of the South Asian region, including India and Nepal, is predicted to be ‘below average’ this year. The sixth version of South Asian Climate Outlook Forum, an annual meet of weather experts, scientists and meteorologists to forecast the South Asian monsoon, has predicted      ‘below normal’ to ‘deficient’ rainfall forecast in many parts of the region, including Nepal.

The delayed monsoon followed by the deficient monsoon rains this year is likely to hit a broad range of summer crops, especially paddy and grains, along with maize, millet and seasonal vegetables.

In India, the onset of monsoon that usually starts in Kerala on June 1 was delayed by five days.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted that the seasonal rainfall for 2015 is just 88 percent of a long-period average, prompting the Indian government to pledge necessary support mechanism for the affected farming sector in the vulnerable pockets in the country due to deficient rains this year.

In Nepal, considering the adverse impact on rain-fed agriculture due to poor monsoon, the agriculture officials have advised the farmers to use seeds that are drought-resistant and need less water.

Due to delay in the entry of monsoon and lack of significant rainfall-related activities, the prevailing hot and dry weather conditions, especially in the Western Tarai and Central region districts, will continue for the next few days, according to MFD.

However, temperature is unlikely to rise significantly over eastern Nepal as sporadic and brief late evening along with night thundershower activities is predicted in the next few days.