Tardy cold season to arrive in coming week

The cold season is expected to arrive in the coming week, a few weeks later than normal, and it will not be as cool as last year,  the Meteorological Department announced on Sunday.

The department said the weather should by then meet three criteria for the cold season - the temperature falling below 23°C continuously in upper parts of the country, easterly or northeasterly winds at low altitude and westerly winds at high altitude, and rainfall declining in upper parts of the country.

The cold season normally starts in mid-October but weather fluctuations and changing wind directions resulted in the rain continuing, delaying the onset of the cold season - even though cooler air already covers much of Thailand.

The weather office said the delayed winter pattern might repeat what had happened in Thailand in 2023,  when there was a strong El Nino weather phenomenon and the cold season officially started in Thailand on Nov 14.

For the coming cold season, from late this year to early next year, the department expects the lowest temperatures in upper regions of Thailand to average 22-23°C, about two degrees higher than last year's 19.6°C.

The lowest temperatures should be around 10-12°C in the upper North and the Northeast, 19-21°C in Bangkok and 18-20°C in nearby provinces. The coldest period would be from late December to early February. There could be morning frost on mountaintops. The cold season should end in mid-February.

In the South heavy rain is likely until December, brought by the northeastern monsoon, low-pressure systems and storms.