Heatwave in Thailand greatly affects outdoor tourism

[mommysboy]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:55 PM, Robert Paulson said:

Omg somebody said it. The truth. Watch out everyone. It’s sharp. It hurts. It may infect you. Stay away from it! 

 

Nobody can argue with the fact that Thailand is hot in April, of course.

 

But the heat index in the evenings?  And are the reported figures relevant to city dwellers?  Most people live in large conurbations these days. Up north, in the sticks, well I guess I can understand why folk are left scratching their heads- it's always blisteringly hot.  

 

Air temperature has been considerably hotter night and day in Surat City for around 1 month. 40 degrees is a rarity down here, and yet it happened multiple times last month.  Cities seem to retain the heat in the evening.  Yesterday, the weather was very slightly cooler, and for me it made a heck of a difference.

 

Personally, I am getting used to it, but adjustment was a bit of a shock to the system. 

 

 

 

[Robert Paulson]

4 minutes ago, mommysboy said:

 

Nobody can argue with the fact that Thailand is hot in April, of course.

 

But the heat index in the evenings?  And are the reported figures relevant to city dwellers?  Most people live in large conurbations these days. Up north, in the sticks, well I guess I can understand why folk are left scratching their heads- it's always blisteringly hot.  

 

Air temperature has been considerably hotter night and day in Surat City for around 1 month. 40 degrees is a rarity down here, and yet it happened multiple times last month.  Cities seem to retain the heat in the evening.  Yesterday, the weather was very slightly cooler, and for me it made a heck of a difference.

 

Personally, I am getting used to it, but adjustment was a bit of a shock to the system. 

 

 

 

Cry harder 

[retarius]

I've stopped going out more or less. Perhaps a visit to doctor, dentist or shops (only to air-conditioned mall). I sit inside and read in the air-conditioning with the temperature at 25 degrees. Obviously not to everyone's taste, but is to mine. 

[Chris Daley]

41 degrees but the thai girls can still stay cool without a bead of sweat on them.  amazing.

[mommysboy]

47 minutes ago, Robert Paulson said:

Cry harder 

 

Will do, little one!

[Bobthegimp]

I can't get the street walkers to leave.

 

They're starting to congregate around the air conditioner and are hogging the bandwidth on the WiFi.  At least they get along with each other and are cheap to feed. 

[scottiejohn]

1 hour ago, Bobthegimp said:

I can't get the street walkers to leave.

 

Either stop inviting them in or pay them what you owe!

[Bobthegimp]

4 minutes ago, scottiejohn said:

Either stop inviting them in or pay them what you owe!

 

When I ask about payment they keep saying "up to you".  I need to channel the spirit of Kissenger or Anwar Sadat in order to reach an accord with these ladies. 

[RPCVguy]

Earlier I commented that the monthly analysis for April from Berkeley Earth would not be out until mid May. This one is lower resolution, but it gives the broad stroke review comparing this April for prior Aprils. the caption with it, posted in a group for Climate Alerts, reads:

"April 2024 easily beat the record for warmest April. A staggering 21% of the globe had their warmest April since 1940. Even when you exclude the oceans, April 2024 over land was also the warmest on record."

Brian Bordtschneider
When a higher resolution mapping becomes available, I expect to see splashes of coloring for 2nd or 3rd warmest appearing throughout, but the dominant regional trend for SE Asia is that this was the warmest April on record. That does not mean every day was the warmest, but it means the temperatures and time at those elevated temperatures per day are generally setting this April as the warmest on record.

[Gknrd]

Thailand is just a lost soul at this point. Heat waves that will continue, pollution affecting millions and killing many thousands a year.  Yeah, sign me up for that.

[DavisH]

3 hours ago, RPCVguy said:

Earlier I commented that the monthly analysis for April from Berkeley Earth would not be out until mid May. This one is lower resolution, but it gives the broad stroke review comparing this April for prior Aprils. the caption with it, posted in a group for Climate Alerts, reads:

"April 2024 easily beat the record for warmest April. A staggering 21% of the globe had their warmest April since 1940. Even when you exclude the oceans, April 2024 over land was also the warmest on record."

Brian Bordtschneider
When a higher resolution mapping becomes available, I expect to see splashes of coloring for 2nd or 3rd warmest appearing throughout, but the dominant regional trend for SE Asia is that this was the warmest April on record. That does not mean every day was the warmest, but it means the temperatures and time at those elevated temperatures per day are generally setting this April as the warmest on record.

I looked at the wunderground.com records for April. I only went back 15 years, but April 2024 had an average temperature 2-3 degrees higher than any of those previous years - at around 33+C (this was for Don Muang area). I don't recall in my 24 years here of weeks on end of 38-40 highs. 

[mommysboy]

12 hours ago, DavisH said:

I looked at the wunderground.com records for April. I only went back 15 years, but April 2024 had an average temperature 2-3 degrees higher than any of those previous years - at around 33+C (this was for Don Muang area). I don't recall in my 24 years here of weeks on end of 38-40 highs. 

 

That certainly corresponds with my experience.

 

Just wait: there will be some deluded characters that will swear that black is white and white no colour at all.

 

 

[radiochaser]

On 5/3/2024 at 9:52 PM, dinsdale said:

Being that your talking °F I'd like to know where it only got up to the mid 80's or around 30°C. Try 105°F or 41°C +. Even the daily average for the month for Bangkok was 33°C  or 91°F.

Southeast Pennsylvania, U.S. of A. 
 

[mommysboy]

9 hours ago, radiochaser said:

Southeast Pennsylvania, U.S. of A. 
 

 

Does that have any bearing on what's happening in Thailand then?

[radiochaser]

10 hours ago, mommysboy said:

 

Does that have any bearing on what's happening in Thailand then?

It has a bearing on the question asked by dinsdale. 

[placeholder]

50 minutes ago, radiochaser said:

It has a bearing on the question asked by dinsdale. 

You should be posting in the Pennsylvania forum.

[John Drake]

All the nasty 40+ stuff seems to be gone now. Two cool days (29-30 highs, 26 nights) and nights in the last week or so. Rain and clouds galore. Pleasant weather again.

[RPCVguy]

On 5/6/2024 at 7:19 PM, RPCVguy said:

Earlier I commented that the monthly analysis for April from Berkeley Earth would not be out until mid May. This one is lower resolution, but it gives the broad stroke review comparing this April for prior Aprils. the caption with it, posted in a group for Climate Alerts, reads:

"April 2024 easily beat the record for warmest April. A staggering 21% of the globe had their warmest April since 1940. Even when you exclude the oceans, April 2024 over land was also the warmest on record."

Brian Bordtschneider
When a higher resolution mapping becomes available, I expect to see splashes of coloring for 2nd or 3rd warmest appearing throughout, but the dominant regional trend for SE Asia is that this was the warmest April on record. That does not mean every day was the warmest, but it means the temperatures and time at those elevated temperatures per day are generally setting this April as the warmest on record.

I posted earlier the above mapping from the European site. Yet, the debate continued. 😲
It is good that people care enough to track, but many comments were based on limited data, maybe from a single location.

IT IS GREAT THAT THE RAINS HAVE ARRIVED in amounts sufficient to soak up and relieve the heat as the water evaporated.
If they are not yet sufficient in some areas, then the light rains make it feel like pouring some water on the rocks of a sauna.

Meanwhile, NOAA has released its report as to April. It is indeed a higher resolution than my earlier post. It explicitly shows most of the grid for Thailand was at record high heat, with a patch of the North West (into Myanmar) that was not quite setting a record. (2019 holds the record there.) The map below is one of several at:
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/access/monitoring/monthly-report/global/202404

 

Of note in the report by NOAA is this quote, using a word much argued in this and related threads.
"Record warm April temperatures in Southeast Asia were due in part to a heatwave in late April with daily high temperatures exceeding 38-43°C (100-110°F) in an area stretching from India to southeastern China and the Philippines. "

 

[RPCVguy]

I notice that the NOAA image above loads very slowly for now, the site likely very busy.
The Berkeley Earth site published their April Analysis today. As I've noted, their site is consistently the most details in number and quality of reporting.
This time, instead of linking to the site from its source, I have loaded the images to this post.