El Nino is not only expected to affect monsoon in India but also in neighbouring countries like Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal and some parts of Myanmar.

Climate indicators are nearing levels associated with an El Nino weather event, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Tuesday.

Private forecaster Skymet has stuck to its earlier forecast of a normal monsoon this year, unruffled by the weather office's prediction that rainfall in the crucial June-September period would be b

Monsoon is expected to be below normal in central India as well, though the India Meteorological Department's region-wise monsoon distribution will be released only in June.

IMD's forecast is a good nine percentage points less than that of Skymet

The IMD's monsoon forecast though very preliminary evokes mixed emotions. At 93% of normal, it's less than the 96% level considered nor mal but higher than last year's 88% fig ure.

Double whammy for Indian farmers, below normal rain predicted. The southwest monsoon’s overall rainfall prediction for 2015 is 93 per cent, three percentage points below normal.

In 1997, the strongest El Nino in decades drove up temperatures across the world, making it the century's hottest year. Dire predictions were made for the Indian monsoon.

The weather office predicted that the southwest monsoon will be below normal for the second year in a row in 2015 and indicated that the disruptive El Nino phenomenon could make things worse for In