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Weather in North Thailand

North Thailand has three distinct seasons:
  1. The Hot (Summer) Season extends from March through May. Daytime temperatures can be unbearably hot during this period.
  2. The Rainy Season, from May through October.
  3. The Cool (Winter) Season, from November through February.
With regard to weather, the most pleasant time to visit the north is the cool season between November and February when rainfall is negligible, humidity is relatively low, and temperatures are mild (warm days and cool nights).

Chiang Mai's average annual temperature is a pleasant 25 degrees C (77 degrees F). During the hot (summer) season, daytime highs can reach 42 degrees C (107 degrees F). During the cool (winter) season, night-time lows can drop below 10 degrees C (50 degrees F) in the city and 4 degrees C (39 degrees F) in the mountains. Doi Inthanon and other peaks can experience freezing conditions at night.

Annual rainfall totals 1,098 millimeters or about 40 inches. Most of the rain falls during the six months from May through October. August is the wettest month, averaging 226 millimeters. Between January and March there are only traces of precipitation.

There are a number on online sources for weather information about Thailand. Here are a few good ones:

  1. For current weather conditions in Chiang Mai and many other Thai cities, go to: http://www.wunderground.com/global/TH.html.
  2. For historical weather information about north Thailand, which is helpful for planning a trip and knowing what weather conditions you should expect, go to: http://www.worldclimate.com/. Once you reach the World Climate Web Page, type in "Chiang Mai, Thailand" or the name of any other city you want weather information for. You'll be able to look up average monthly rainfall and average daily high and low temperatures based on data collected by local weather bureaus over many years.

For your convenience, here is some summary weather information for cities in north Thailand:

Chiangmai

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average Temperature
°C 21.2 23.4 26.2 28.8 28.7 27.9 27.4 27.1 27.0 26.3 24.3 21.6 25.9
°F 70.2 74.1 79.2 83.8 83.7 82.2 81.3 80.8 80.6 79.3 75.7 70.9 78.6
Average Rainfall
mm 7.5 6.0 15.0 44.9 153.1 135.8 167.1 227.0 251.3 132.0 43.9 14.8 1197.1
inches 0.3 0.2 0.6 1.8 6.0 5.3 6.6 8.9 9.9 5.2 1.7 0.6 47.1

Chiang Rai

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average Temperature
°C 19.6 21.6 24.4 27.2 27.6 27.2 26.8 26.4 26.3 25.2 22.9 19.8 24.6
°F 67.3 70.9 75.9 81.0 81.7 81.0 80.2 79.5 79.3 77.4 73.2 67.6 76.3
Average Rainfall
mm 16.3 5.8 29.1 79.9 216.0 249.0 297.3 435.6 264.1 135.6 37.9 24.0 1795.9
inches 0.6 0.2 1.1 3.1 8.5 9.8 11.7 17.1 10.4 5.3 1.5 0.9 70.7

Mae Hong Sorn

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average Temperature
°C 21.7 23.6 26.9 30.5 29.8 27.9 27.5 27.5 27.8 27.1 24.8 21.4 26.4
°F 71.1 74.5 80.4 86.9 85.6 82.2 81.5 81.5 82.0 80.8 76.6 70.5 79.5
Average Rainfall
mm 13.0 2.1 6.8 44.8 176.2 188.9 210.9 279.5 231.1 103.1 29.5 9.5 1276.7
inches 0.5 0.1 0.3 1.8 6.9 7.4 8.3 11.0 9.1 4.1 1.2 0.4 50.3

CREDITS

1. The weather summary was adapted from a Usenet posting made by Terence May <tmay@rocketmail.com>.
2. The city weather summaries were obtained from WorldClimate http://www.worldclimate.com.


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Last modified on:  August 20 2008

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