Would September be a total wash out in terms of visiting for a month ? I was considering CM or Luang Prabang but all the reports of heavy cloud cover, massive rains, and possible flooding is worrying me.

Yes, it's the height of monsoon season, so you can count on heavy rains at times. But the good side is that it's green and beautiful, the rice is growing, and the air is clean and cool. It's my favorite time of year. Come and enjoy it; but bring an umbrella and/or gortex. There are plenty of clear days and clear periods of time during most days so that you can get out and around, especially if you are prepared with rain gear and a positive attitude.

Sawasdee Khrup, Khun MidnightTiger,

You can use WeatherUnderground's history to examine weather conditions a year ago in September in Luang Prabang ... for what that's worth ...

In Win Vista IE8: the picture that's supposed to show some seasonal averages on WU for LP doesn't show up.*

Here's a sample search: for Sept. 19, 2009 in LP:

WU Sample LP Search

Have you checked Lonely Planet's site for weather summary ?

Good luck,

best, ~o:37;

* probably because we have so many tracking-cookies blocked (we use a modified Win Vista 'Hosts file that blocks over 13,000 sites in addition to pop-up blocking being turned on in IE8, as well as the usual first-class anti-virus, and extra malware/trojan/spyware blockers).

August by record is historically the wettest month on record for Chiang Mai. So far not that bad we are getting rain but we are still behind are yearly average. September will still be wet but not as bad .Come on up and have a great time. www.tmd.go.th/en