The annual wet season has officially kicked off across Thailand, marked by heavy rain reported over at least 60% of the upper regions of the country.
Including Phuket, not that you’d need any reminder of the rains today.
The Meteorological Department announced “officially” that the summer season ended on May 20, signalling the start of the 2024 rainy season. For three consecutive days, upper Thailand has experienced heavy rainfall covering over 60% of the area.
In Phuket, last Saturday saw the change over from easterly and north easterly winds to the south west, which drags in moist air from the Indian Ocean, better known as the annual south-west monsoon. Over centuries, this change over to the wet season in Phuket has been both predictable and reliable.
On the plus side, it’s a bit cooler and the sunsets are MUCH more spectacular at this time of the year.
The Thai Meteorological Department said that “a shift in trade winds at about 1,500 metres above sea level, with southwest winds now bringing moisture from the Andaman Sea across the land. At around 10,000 metres, the winds have changed direction to blow from the east, further contributing to the onset of the rainy season”.
In other words, it will now be a lot wetter for the next 6 months than it was for the preceding 6 months.
“The rainy season in upper Thailand is expected to last until mid-October. However, in the South, particularly on the east coast, heavy rain is predicted to continue until mid-January.”
Phuket can expect some rain, albeit less than the island has received today, for the rest of this week into the weekend.
Read more about Phuket’s seasonal weather HERE.
