The South Asian Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) was established in 2009 and is coordinated by the India Meteorological Department (IMD). It covers Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka; each country hosts the Forum on rotation. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has been supporting South Asian nations in conducting the South Asian Seasonal Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) since 2010.The objective of the forum is to prepare consensus seasonal climate information on regional scale that provides a consistent basis for preparing national level outlooks.

The SASCOF platforms also serve to interact with user sector to understand and enhance the use of climate information as envisaged by Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS).The CSUF special sessions of SASCOFs focus on interface with users from the Water, Agriculture, Disaster Risk Reduction and Health sector to interpret seasonal climate information and understand their specific needs with a view to further customizes climate information.

Rainfall and temperatures during the months from October to February are of crucial importance to key sectors like agriculture, water, energy and health in the South Asian Region. Winter SASCOF’s were started in 2015 keeping in view of the importance of winter seasonal climate to these key user sectors.