A Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology spokesman said on Tuesday that there will be up to 26 storms this rainy season, but of those, only five or six will cause the Mekong river to overflow or result in general flooding.

Chan Yutha said storms mostly originate in the Pacific Ocean before proceeding to the South China Sea, and then potentially on to Cambodia and the Mekong basin region.

“Generally, the storms that take place in the South China Sea mostly occur from mid-August to mid-October. According to weather forecasts, from August to October Cambodia could face flooding due to rainfall or Mekong river flooding due to the influence of five to six storms that could happen in China’s south gulf,” he said.

However, Yutha said now that the El Nino effect has decreased substantially, the southwest monsoon low-pressure system has resulted in rainfall all over the country, which is favourable for farmers’ crops.

But according to the ministry’s weather forecast announcement for this year’s rainy season, dated Monday, a short dry spell could also take place between late-July and early-August, posing problems for growing and maintaining crops.

Yutha said the ministry, in conjunction with relevant provincial departments, is ready to intervene to help farmers experiencing a water shortage in certain areas of the country.

“A small dry spell could occur for 10 to 15 days, but the wind will not be as hot as it was earlier in the year. In the early days of the rainy season there was a lot of rainfall, which means some basins or reservoirs, such as creeks, lakes, canals and rivers, still have a lot of water,” he said.

Yutha said that according to the forecast, rainfall will continue to take place until mid-July.