may/june vs sept/oct

[Don Chance]

Maybe a trivial question but is may/june much like sept/oct/aug just less rain? I've never been in the off season to Thailand May to July...?

[starky]

Impossible to predict the wheather champ can rain from April through October. I would say perhaps, IMO, probably less rain through April-June bit being the wet season, it's all up to Buddha. I know there's very heavy, intermittent , rain up my way already and has been for a couple weeks.

[lannarebirth]

May/June usually hotter with less rain than the Sept/Oct period. That's certainly the case in the North. Other regions may have somewhat different climates during those periods but generally rainy..

[1FinickyOne]

May/June is usually a bit overcast with less likely heavy day long showers... just brief afternoon showers... no guarantees but usually a favorite time of year for me... but, I find it rare that the weather matters much to me.. no snow and ice... no worries. 

[Laza 45]

I think it depends a lot where you are.. but very hard to predict these days with climate change.  Where I live (north central Isaan).. the rains usually start in May.. but as someone above said ..usually just brief showers... although they can be heavy.  I quite like this time of year as the rain washes things down and it it is a bit cooler than April.  There can be similar rains in Sept but by late Sept the rainy season comes to an end.. quite abruptly.. a nice time of year too as it enters the cool season.. Down south things are different.. I think.. 

[Mario666]

On Samui you never can tell..."Depends on the weather" as they say.

 

I have been coming here for 12 years and lived here permanently for 8 years.

 

We have had everything from severe drought with chronic water shortages to floods and it doesn't seem to matter what the month is anymore.

 

Definite change from when I first came when there were 3-ish seasons...Hot, dry and rainy.

 

Sorry I know this doesn't help whether you are planning on a Samui trip or not.

 

Where are you going BTW....perhaps someone from that locale will be better informed?

[Brunolem]

In theory, September and October are part of the rain season (July to October) whereas May and June are part of the summer season (March to June).

 

As stated by other posters above, showers and storms are likely during the latter, but not as intense as in September - October...yet with the climate going haywire, everything is possible, and last year in parts of Isaan it was wetter in the summer season than in the rain season!

[Andycoops]

Generally May - June.

[AgMech Cowboy]

3 hours ago, Laza 45 said:

I think it depends a lot where you are.. but very hard to predict these days with climate change.  Where I live (north central Isaan).. the rains usually start in May.. but as someone above said ..usually just brief showers... although they can be heavy.  I quite like this time of year as the rain washes things down and it it is a bit cooler than April.  There can be similar rains in Sept but by late Sept the rainy season comes to an end.. quite abruptly.. a nice time of year too as it enters the cool season.. Down south things are different.. I think.. 

It definitely depends where you are, but even in North central Isaan, September averages the most rainy days per year. In Bangkok, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Ayutthaya, Samut Sakhon & vicinity we don't stop worrying about floods until November. (Note: this does not include the flash floods that don't last more than 3-4 days).

[thecyclist]

Statistically , August to October much more than May/June.But the weather, probably due to global warming, has become increasingly more unpredictable over the last decade or so.

When I first came here 30 years ago Dec/Jan were virtually rainfree in Central Thailand, that is simply not the case anymore.

[Justfine]

1 hour ago, thecyclist said:

Statistically , August to October much more than May/June.But the weather, probably due to global warming, has become increasingly more unpredictable over the last decade or so.

When I first came here 30 years ago Dec/Jan were virtually rainfree in Central Thailand, that is simply not the case anymore.

Weather was never highly predictable and many parts of the world were hotter in the 1940s.

 

[Justfine]

I've never been in the off season to Thailand May to July...?

 

Best time to go

 

 

[KhunBENQ]

6 hours ago, Laza 45 said:

I think it depends a lot where you are..

Indeed.

Thailand is about 1000 miles north/south.

Much higher temperature differences in the north/northeast than in the south.

Usually higher humidity in the south.

West coast different from east coast, different from the gulf.

Simplified:

May/June very hot.

September/October much higher chance of tremendous rains.

....

And in the end it becomes more and more vague to do predictions.

 

 

 

[Justfine]

2 minutes ago, KhunBENQ said:

Indeed.

Thailand is about 1000 miles north/south.

Much higher temperature differences in the north/northeast than in the south.

Usually higher humidity in the south.

West coast different from east coast, different to the gulf.

Simplified:

May/June very hot.

September/October much higher chance of tremendous rains.

....

And in the end it becomes more and more vague to do predictions.

 

 

 

Beach areas get sea breezes so being slightly hotter is better than heavy rain if travelling in the beach areas.

 

In the mountains at elevation it gets cooler and heavy rain can ruin a trek.

 

So June is much better imo.

[Laza 45]

Nearing the end of Sept the monsoon moves south... Kalasin becomes dry while Bangkok gets soaked.   The big typhoons that come from the Philippines are getting stronger with rising ocean temperatures.  These typhoons usually hit Vietnam around Da Nang and then turn northward into China.  Occasionally they come straight across and dump rain in northern Isaan.  We were flooded last year.  Old people in the area say it is at least 50 years since they had had a flood like that.  Who knows what this year will bring?  

[Skeptic7]

Here is the actual answer...based on historical weather data, specifically precipitation data:

 

[Justfine]

18 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Here is the actual answer...based on historical weather data, specifically precipitation data:

 

What location?

 

[Skeptic7]

14 minutes ago, Justfine said:

What location?

 

As the chart reflects...Thailand...average for the entire country. Looking for a specific locale?  Which one? 

[Justfine]

2 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

As the chart reflects...Thailand...average for the entire country. Looking for a specific locale?  Which one? 

Average doesnt mean much. The gulf islands get lots of rain in Oct to Dec.

 

Koh Chang gets plenty in Oct as well.

[Skeptic7]

3 minutes ago, Justfine said:

Average doesnt mean much. The gulf islands get lots of rain in Oct to Dec.

 

Koh Chang gets plenty in Oct as well.

Historical data averages mean a ALOT. Clearly you are not interested in the data, but rather opining. Just as the previous chart clearly shows Thailand as the location...I clearly asked you to name a specific location. Both of which you missed...or chose to miss. Koh Chang Oct precip is nowhere close to May-Sept. The Koh Chang historical precipitation data is nearly identical to the averages for the entire country. 

 

[Justfine]

50 minutes ago, Skeptic7 said:

Historical data averages mean a ALOT. Clearly you are not interested in the data, but rather opining. Just as the previous chart clearly shows Thailand as the location...I clearly asked you to name a specific location. Both of which you missed...or chose to miss. Koh Chang Oct precip is nowhere close to May-Sept. The Koh Chang historical precipitation data is nearly identical to the averages for the entire country. 

 

No it isn't as the scale is different. Chang gets a lot more rain.

 

The gulf islands are Samui, Tao and KPN which are affected by different monsoon to the west coast.

[Justfine]

Your first graph shows zero months above 300mm. KC shows 5 months above 300mm and 4 above 400m.

 

Quite a bit of difference.

 

Not the same at all!

 

And November is the wettest on the gulf islands.

[Skeptic7]

1 hour ago, Justfine said:

Your first graph shows zero months above 300mm. KC shows 5 months above 300mm and 4 above 400m.

 

Quite a bit of difference.

 

Not the same at all!

 

And November is the wettest on the gulf islands.

The charts provided are to show that the wettest and driest months are similar over most of the country...NOT whether they have the exact same amounts of rain or one place has more precip per month than another. Of course there are going to be differences in the amounts. The fact remains that Sept is the wettest month for most of Thailand...including Koh Chang (to which you referred). While correct about Samui (and Gulf Islands)...the OP didn't specify these particular locations, or any location, so was providing info based on countrywide data. You claimed countrywide avgs "don't mean much" and I would agree ONLY had OP had specified "Samui" or "Gulf Islands".  Also, countrywide avgs would be useful to someone who may be planning on a visit to Northern, Southern and central Thailand over a month or two.  

[Justfine]

5 hours ago, Skeptic7 said:

The charts provided are to show that the wettest and driest months are similar over most of the country...NOT whether they have the exact same amounts of rain or one place has more precip per month than another. Of course there are going to be differences in the amounts. The fact remains that Sept is the wettest month for most of Thailand...including Koh Chang (to which you referred). While correct about Samui (and Gulf Islands)...the OP didn't specify these particular locations, or any location, so was providing info based on countrywide data. You claimed countrywide avgs "don't mean much" and I would agree ONLY had OP had specified "Samui" or "Gulf Islands".  Also, countrywide avgs would be useful to someone who may be planning on a visit to Northern, Southern and central Thailand over a month or two.  

You are talking nonsense. The trends can be the same  but 100 to 150mm of rain difference is significant to someone on holidays for a short time.

 

And Samui can flood in late Oct throught to December. It often does.

 

A graph of the whole of Thailand isn't going to stop the flood.

[Skeptic7]

1 hour ago, Justfine said:

You are talking nonsense. The trends can be the same  but 100 to 150mm of rain difference is significant to someone on holidays for a short time.

 

And Samui can flood in late Oct throught to December. It often does.

 

A graph of the whole of Thailand isn't going to stop the flood.

 

[Mario666]

To the OP....why don't you ask the question again, but give some more indication about where you will be and when?

 

Having said that I think it is pretty clear from most who have responded that the weather patterns have changed in most places in the last few years and accordingly impossible to predict with any certainty....so it's like I said in my post "Depends on the weather".