Late start for cold season expected - Bangkok Post

Rice farmers spread paddy on a road to dry while looking out for rain as weather fluctuations continue, in Phimai district of Nakhon Ratchasima on Tuesday. (Photo: Prasit Tangprasert) The Meteorological Department expects the cold season in Thailand to start later than usual this year due to the strong El Nino weather phenomenon.

According to the department, El Nino this year is at least as severe as the one the region experienced in 2023.

The intensified El Nino phenomenon three years ago caused rain to continue in the Central Plains and the East in the first half of November. Afterwards temperatures fell and the department announced the cold season began on Nov 14, 2023.

The department has forecast that the arrival of the cold season this year may also come in mid-November.

Somkuan Tonjan, director of the Aeronautical Meteorology Division at the department, said weather fluctuations would continue until Thursday.

During the period, the wind direction will be changing, cold air over the South China Sea will remain either weak or moderate, and thunderous rain will be likely in parts of the lower Northeast and the lower Central Plains including Greater Bangkok.

From the end of the first week of November, the direction of the cool winds will become more stable but air humidity will remain high. There will be thunderous rain in the evening and at night in the lower Northeast, the Central Plains including Greater Bangkok, and in the upper South, Mr Somkuan said.