Weakening of the El Nino phenomenon has raised hopes of good rains this monsoon in Nepal, according to a regional forum of the World Meteorological Organisation.

Mid- and far-western Tarai districts along with a few Western hilly districts are likely to get above normal rainfall, while the remaining parts, except a few Tarai and hilly districts in the Far-East region, are set to receive normal rains between June and September this year, said Shiva Nepal, a senior meteorologist, who attended the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) conference held in Colombo recently.

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 which begins in June and usually ends in September. Last year the country received 76 percent of average rainfall while the previous year it was 94 percent, hence drought-like situation in many parts of the country.

“Nepal in particular will see normal rains this monsoon, which will bring some respite for farmers who have witnessed prolonged droughts in the past two seasons,” said Nepal, who is a senior meteorologist at the Agro-Meteorology Section under the Department of Hydrology and Meteorology.

Due to insufficient rains during monsoon last year, production of paddy and major summer crop had dropped by more than 10 percent.

The SASCOF had predicted below normal rains for the region in 2015 and below normal to normal in 2014.

About 100-110 percent rainfall has been predicted for this year, which according to weathermen is normal for monsoon. “There is a strong consensus among experts that the El Nino conditions will continue to weaken and will have no adverse impacts on the southwest monsoon rainfall over the region,” the SASCOF has said.