Thai winter ‘won’t be as cold this year’

Thailand’s winter will not be very cold this year, with temperatures about one degree Celsius higher than the average, according to the Meteorological Department.
The lowest mean daily minimum temperatures in the cool season that started on Sunday are expected to be 16-19°C in the North and Northeast in January. Overall temperatures will be higher by 1°C due to variable weather, the department said on Tuesday.
It said cooler weather had begun to cover the North and Northeast with the lowest maximum temperatures below 29°C from Oct 29. The cooler air has since expanded to cover the Central Plains and the East.
Winds have switched to northeastern or easterly, and the distribution of rain continues to decrease. With these conditions, Thailand officially entered the cool season on Nov 3, said a notice signed by Sugunyanee Yavinchan, the department’s acting director-general.
However, rain is expected in some areas of upper Thailand in early November, while more showers with occasional heavy to very heavy rain are forecast in the South in November and December.
Somkhuan Tonjan, director of the department’s forecasting sub-division, said in an interview with ThaiPBS Online that the cool season this year was forecast not to be as cold as usual, with temperatures about 1°C above the normal average.
It was a blessing for Thailand to be able to enter the cool season as the weather has been quite variable, given the transition from the from El Nino to La Nina weather pattern, said Mr Somkhuan.
The North and the Northeast will experience colder weather in December to January with a cold air mass from China spreading to cover Thailand until January, he said.
The expected mean daily minimum temperatures in January are as follows: