'El Nino' effect on monsoon to be known by Jun 3rd week

The effect of 'El Nino' phenomenon that could negatively impact the monsoon rainfall, would be known only by the third week of June, according to Ashwani Kumar, Union Minister of State for Science and Technology and Earth Science. While stating that the South-West monsoon rainfall for the country as a whole is "most likely to be normal (96-104 per cent)", Kumar today said "the 'El Nino' effect (which can result in a deficient rainfall), will be known by the third week of June." Quantitatively, the monsoon rainfall is likely to be 99 per cent of long period average with a model error of 5%, he added.