End of April, Phuket weather update

Well, April is nearly gone, so we have to expect some changes in the weather sometime soon. There's not been much rain in April save for a few heavy, brief thunderstorms. We took a walk at the Bang Wad reservoir a few days ago, the water level was much lower than a month before. It's been a very dry year so far, and over the last few days there has been no sign of any early start to the "low season" weather. The low season weather patterns are dominated by the "South West Monsoon" winds, bringing moisture across the Indian Ocean, with a lot more rain than high season, often some strong winds and big waves too. Now, much of the time the weather can be just as good as high season, but you get periods when it's pretty wet for days at a time also. I have written some summaries about weather patterns here:

• Phuket Weather - Overview of Seasons and Climate
• Low Season Weather in Phuket

Over the last week, we've had some evening rain a few times, but the rain can be very localised. Just yesterday, it was a largely sunny afternoon at Karon Beach, some clouds around, but no rain. A guy came by our office to drop off maps of Phuket - he'd just come through Patong and said it was tipping down and there were minor floods (there always are in Patong.. drains can't keep up).

I was amused to see Breaking News: Thunderstorm Expected in Thailand as a headline in the Bangkok Post on the 24th. What, just 1 thunderstorm for the whole country? At this time of year you expect some thunder since the days are very hot. Here in Phuket at least we get some breezes here and there. In Central and Northern Thailand, expect temperatures up to and above 40°C.

I'm heading away from Phuket for about 10 days starting tomorrow. We'll be going to Khao Sok National Park, then to Chumphon and Prachuap Khiri Khan. All the latest up to the minute weather in Phuket can always be found here on this blog by using the links on the left side of the page for webcams, weather radar, satellite images and various forecast websites.