This year is the driest in Thailand since 1995, and yet Bangkok experienced its wettest-ever month in June. What’s going on?
| BLACK clouds unleashed heavy rainfall on Bangkok during the last few days of July, but the downpours didn’t allay fears that Thailand is in the grip of a severe and unprecedented drought – and without lots more rain 2015 will end up being the driest on record. |  |
How accurate is that forecast?
No one knows. We have five more months until the end of 2015 and it’s plainly impossible to predict what will happen to Thailand’s weather.
And those recent thunderstorms in Bangkok may have no bearing on the eventual outcome, for heavy downpours here are not necessarily being repeated elsewhere in Thailand.
No one knows. We have five more months until the end of 2015 and it’s plainly impossible to predict what will happen to Thailand’s weather.
And those recent thunderstorms in Bangkok may have no bearing on the eventual outcome, for heavy downpours here are not necessarily being repeated elsewhere in Thailand.
To record Thailand’s weather, the Meteorological Department divides the country into six separate regions: North, Northeast, Central, East, Southeast, and Southwest. It also publishes separate figures for Bangkok.
Statistics for the past 19 years show that the North – and not the Northeast as most people believe – is actually the country’s driest region. It is followed by the Central region and then by the Northeast. The wettest by far is the Southwest.
The Met Department’s figures confirm fears that 2015 to date is an astonishingly dry year, and unless Thailand in general receives a thoroughly good soaking soon, it may well go down in history as an unprecedented natural disaster.
The facts speak for themselves: four regions (North, Northeast, East and Southeast) have just experienced their driest June for the past 20 years.
Statistics for the past 19 years show that the North – and not the Northeast as most people believe – is actually the country’s driest region. It is followed by the Central region and then by the Northeast. The wettest by far is the Southwest.
The Met Department’s figures confirm fears that 2015 to date is an astonishingly dry year, and unless Thailand in general receives a thoroughly good soaking soon, it may well go down in history as an unprecedented natural disaster.
The facts speak for themselves: four regions (North, Northeast, East and Southeast) have just experienced their driest June for the past 20 years.
June was also the second and sixth driest month respectively in the Central and Southwest regions since 1995. Even the Southwest had one of its driest Junes.
But in a strange twist which emphasises the unpredictability of Thailand’s weather, Bangkok had its wettest-ever June earlier this year, when an amazing 465.5 ml of water was dumped on the city – some 44 ml more than 2011, the year when the country famously suffered its worst floods in decades.
It’s anomalies like this that make it so difficult to understand, let alone predict, long-term weather patterns.
Other figures for the period 1995-2015 provided by the Met Department offer many more surprises. For example, the vast farmlands of the Northeast had their wettest year (1,690.9 ml) as recently as 2011, and driest (1,186.7 ml) way back in 1998. Three other wet years were 2008, 2000 and 2002.
But in a strange twist which emphasises the unpredictability of Thailand’s weather, Bangkok had its wettest-ever June earlier this year, when an amazing 465.5 ml of water was dumped on the city – some 44 ml more than 2011, the year when the country famously suffered its worst floods in decades.
It’s anomalies like this that make it so difficult to understand, let alone predict, long-term weather patterns.
Other figures for the period 1995-2015 provided by the Met Department offer many more surprises. For example, the vast farmlands of the Northeast had their wettest year (1,690.9 ml) as recently as 2011, and driest (1,186.7 ml) way back in 1998. Three other wet years were 2008, 2000 and 2002.
However, last year’s rains in the Northeast were below average at 1,383.6 ml, while May and June 2015 were a source of concern by being the driest on record.
The North’s wettest year was the ‘year of the great floods’ 2011 (1,688.7 ml) and driest in 1998 (1,012.7 ml).
Corresponding figures for the Central region are wettest (1,514.4 ml) in 2011, and driest (993 ml) in 2014; the East are 2014 (2,259.6 ml) and 2004 (1,650.6 ml); the Southeast 1999 (2,356.1 ml) and 2004 (1,438.4 ml); Southwest 2012 (3,353.3 ml) and 2005
(2,347.5 ml).
Meanwhile, Bangkok’s wettest year was 2009 (2,272 ml), which was almost equaled in 2011 (2,240.3 ml), along with 1998 (2,109.1 ml), and 2010 (2,023.7 ml). Its driest year was 1997 (1,063.7 ml).
The capital’s wettest month during the last 20 years was in September 2012 (601.1 ml). Running a close second was September 1998 (586.3 ml).
Bucking this year’s miserable trend was March of this year, which saw massive thunderstorms, making it the wettest in Bangkok’s recent history.
The North’s wettest year was the ‘year of the great floods’ 2011 (1,688.7 ml) and driest in 1998 (1,012.7 ml).
Corresponding figures for the Central region are wettest (1,514.4 ml) in 2011, and driest (993 ml) in 2014; the East are 2014 (2,259.6 ml) and 2004 (1,650.6 ml); the Southeast 1999 (2,356.1 ml) and 2004 (1,438.4 ml); Southwest 2012 (3,353.3 ml) and 2005
(2,347.5 ml).
Meanwhile, Bangkok’s wettest year was 2009 (2,272 ml), which was almost equaled in 2011 (2,240.3 ml), along with 1998 (2,109.1 ml), and 2010 (2,023.7 ml). Its driest year was 1997 (1,063.7 ml).
The capital’s wettest month during the last 20 years was in September 2012 (601.1 ml). Running a close second was September 1998 (586.3 ml).
Bucking this year’s miserable trend was March of this year, which saw massive thunderstorms, making it the wettest in Bangkok’s recent history.
In Bangkok, at least, what is known as the ‘wet season’ remains well defined, with the months of May, June, July, August, September and October having the most number of rainy days. Back in August 2010, the country’s gloomy capital experienced a record 27 days of rain – three days more than in August 2010 and August 2014.
It’s clear from the Met Department figures that while there is the odd blipp on the screen, no major or discernible changes in weather patterns have emerged over the past two decades. The one exception, of course, is this year with its worryingly low rainfall so far.
What happens between now and December 31 is anyone’s guess.
It’s clear from the Met Department figures that while there is the odd blipp on the screen, no major or discernible changes in weather patterns have emerged over the past two decades. The one exception, of course, is this year with its worryingly low rainfall so far.
What happens between now and December 31 is anyone’s guess.
