The monsoon is likely to hit the country’s eastern region in the normal date of around June 10 this year, according to weathermen.

A satellite-image shared by the India Meteorological Department has indicated that this year’s monsoon will see a normal onset on June 10 in eastern parts of Nepal and scurry throughout the country by June 15.

Normally, the south-west monsoon phenomenon that develops over the Bay of Bengal in India enters through the eastern region of Nepal on June 10 and takes almost a week to spread throughout the country, bringing heavy to moderate rains in many places.

“The pre-monsoon has been active and is bringing rains throughout the country, particularly in the west, central and eastern regions since the start of this month due to the weakening of El Nino effect,” said Samir Shrestha, a meteorologist at the Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) on Wednesday.

The weather will remain cloudy in the next couple of days, with rainfall activity in many hill districts across the country, Shrestha said.

The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (Sascof) conference held in Colombo last month has stated that monsoon this year will be normal in the country, with mid- and far-western Tarai districts along with a few hill districts likely to get above normal rainfall, while the remaining parts, except a few Tarai and hill districts in the eastern region set to receive normal rains between June and September this year. More than 80 percent of the precipitation in the country is received during monsoon, and the average monsoon rainfall for the country is 1,400mm.

The country endured drought for two straight years due to below normal rainfall during monsoon. Last year the country received 76 percent of average rainfall, down from 94 percent in previous years, resulting in the drought-like situation in many parts of the country.