Phuket Weather

Phuket Weather Related News

I will post here weather related news that I happen to see online and remember to post here - anything related to the Phuket area or major weather from Thailand.

July 26th - It's windy and the beaches are rough, not safe to swim right now - Phuket Gazette has a warning : DO NOT SWIM at the moment, except in a hotel pool! I wrote an article last month - PLEASE DO NOT DROWN IN PHUKET.

Here we go. Low season. Waves at the beaches. Rip currents. Drownings. Red Flags? Flying but being ignored... American Tourist drowns at Karon Beach this week.

Phuket Gazette reports, June 12th that flooding is still a problem in parts of Patong. That would be coz all the trees are in a tree museum or something like that :)

Omen was there. Gazette reported on the 4th, beware of landslides. News on 6th June - 2 workers killed by landslide in building site. See report on Phuket Gazette.

June 4th - Rainy season finally here. Phuket prepares for landslides - hillside areas in Phuket, especially where there is construction, are at risk of landslides - see Phuket Gazette.

June 2nd - After a dry May, Phuket faces water shortages. (well, maybe not - see June 4th)

April 7th - apparently there was a Tsunami Alert and people evacuated from hotels. Well, I didn't know anything about it until I woke up and saw "Tsunami Alert Lifted" on the BBC. Big quake in Sumatra, no tsunami. But well done to everyone for raising the alarm.

April 1st - Phuket water woes averted! Phuket Gazette reports that recent heavy downpours have ensured that Phuket should now have enough water to last until the rainy season, according to the Phuket Provincial Irrigation Office.

A Phuket Provincial Meteorological officer said that, “The recent rain in Phuket has been brought in on trade winds from China. It's unexpected rain and we should be back to the normal season soon, although this year's rainy season may be late because of the El Niño phenomenon.”

March 29th - we got rain! Several evenings worth of heavy downpours causing the usual local flooding in the same old places. Nothing serious, but anyway, the heat has broken at last. Phuket Wan reported, somewhat over dramatically Phuket Lashed By Deluge - and this weather blog has some photos and information too.

March 26th - the Bangkok Post reports that 53 provinces have been affected by drought.. apparently "The disaster prevention and mitigation offices in these provinces have distributed more than 78 million cubic million litres of water to drought-hit people, repaired 3,645 weirs, dredged 3,985 reservoirs, and installed 689 water pumps to alleviate the people's hardship."

March 19th - Yes, it has been very dry for the last couple of months. We have no water problems where I live, but a report in a local blog says that hundreds are without water in the center of the island around Pa Khlok and Cherng Talay.

March 11th - the Phuket Gazette reports today that a site has been fixed for another large reservoir in Phuket. The new one is planned for a large area of land at the Nakkerd Hills between Phuket Town and Chalong, close to Luang Phu Supha temple. Water shortages are not a huge issue yet, but with continued development, the one main reservoir at Bang Wad has been known to get rather empty now and then. Work is already underway to increase storage at some old tin mine ponds in the north of Phuket Town.

March 11th - on the Gulf side of Thailand, some summer storms - we heard from my wifes parents in Chumphon that the rain was lashing down last night - and the Thai new site MCOT reports that a severe summer storm generating high waves hit central Thailand's Prachuap Khiri Khan shoreline on Thursday capsizing three fishing boats and caused two others to go missing. At this time of year it's often very hot and dry all over Thailand. Camille's Koh Samui blog reports heavy rain last night, but the day before he reported "The drought is becoming more and more of a problem. All major hotels on Samui (and smaller ones as well) have water trucks delivering water each day."!

March 10th - reports that Phuket is to get a new weather radar.. although there is one already . I guess the new one would have some knobs and bells on. There is a claim that it would be able to give tsunami warnings too... er, surely that's what the tsunami warning buoys are for .... (see report below March 6th) can a radar see a small wave? A tsunami wave out at sea may only be a few cm high, a few feet max, same as a normal wave. I think someone is talking ****!

March 8th - A nice report on the Al Jazeera website about the dry weather - the Mekong river is getting dry - water levels at a 20 year low. Partly due to the weather, partly due to the Chinese building dams and hogging all the water.

March 6th - Phuket to get more tsunami warning buoys - reported in the Phuket Gazette. The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) has confirmed that its disaster warning system is working well and says two more tsunami direct detection units on order from Italy should be deployed off the Andaman Coast by year end. NDWC Director Viriya Mongkolveerapan told the Gazette that the government is spending more than 100 million baht for the two new buoys. One will be deployed about 10 to 20 kilometers off the coast of Phuket and the other a similar distance off the coast of Ranong.


Phuket Weather Related News  |  The Phuket Weather Blog

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