Climate
Most of Thailand has a Tropical wet and dry or savanna climate (Aw) according to the Köppen climate classification, while the South and the eastern tip of the East have a tropical monsoon climate (Am); countrywide, temperatures normally range from an average annual high of 38 °C (100.4 °F) to a low of 19 °C (66.2 °F). During the dry season, the temperature rises dramatically in the second half of March, spiking to well over 40 °C (104 °F) in some areas by mid April when the Sun passes the Zenith. Southwest monsoons that arrive between May and July (except in the South) signal the advent of the rainy season (ruedu fon), which lasts into October and the cloud covering reduces the temperature again but the high humidity is experienced as 'hot and sticky'. November and December mark the onset of the dry season and night temperatures on high ground can occasionally drop to a light frost. Temperatures begin to climb in January, and a hot sun parches the landscape. The dry season is shortest in the South because of the proximity of the sea to all parts of the Malay Peninsula. With only minor exceptions, every area of the country receives adequate rainfall, but the duration of the rainy season and the amount of rain vary substantially from region to region and with altitude. The Northeast experiences a long dry season although the dry 2007/2008 season lasted only from late November through mid March. Its red,(laterite) dense clayey soils retain water well, which limits their agricultural potential for many crops but is ideal for keeping the water in the paddy fields and local village reservoirs. The well drained, loose sandy alluvium of the Mekong flood plain is very fertile, the main crops being tomatoes on an industrial scale, tobacco, and pineapples.
| WEATHER IN THAILAND | ||||||||||||||
| Months: | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D | ||
| Chiang Mai | Max Temp Av. | 29 | 32 | 34 | 36 | 34 | 32 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 28 | |
| Min Temp Av. | 13 | 14 | 17 | 22 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 15 | ||
| hours/day | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | ||
| mm/month | 7 | 11 | 15 | 50 | 140 | 155 | 190 | 220 | 290 | 125 | 40 | 10 | ||
| days/months | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 12 | 16 | 18 | 21 | 18 | 10 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Phuket | Max Temp Av. | 31 | 32 | 33 | 33 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 31 | 30 | 31 | 31 | 31 | |
| Min Temp Av. | 23 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 24 | 24 | 14 | 14 | ||
| hours/day | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | ||
| mm/month | 35 | 40 | 75 | 125 | 295 | 265 | 215 | 246 | 325 | 315 | 195 | 80 | ||
| days/months | 4 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 19 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 14 | 8 | ||
Read more about this topic: Geography Of Thailand
Famous quotes containing the word climate:
“The climate of Ohio is perfect, considered as the home of an ideal republican people. Climate has much to do with national character.... A climate which permits labor out-of-doors every month in the year and which requires industry to secure comfort—to provide food, shelter, clothing, fuel, etc.—is the very climate which secures the highest civilization.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)
“Certainly parents play a crucial role in the lives of individuals who are intellectually gifted or creatively talented. But this role is not one of active instruction, of teaching children skills,... rather, it is support and encouragement parents give children and the intellectual climate that they create in the home which seem to be the critical factors.”
—David Elkind (20th century)
“If often he was wrong and at times absurd,
To us he is no more a person
Now but a whole climate of opinion.”
—W.H. (Wystan Hugh)