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hatrack

(59,439 posts)
Tue May 31, 2016, 10:11 PM May 2016

Half Of Thailand's Weather Stations Have Broken All-Time High Temp Records In Past 42 Days

All-time national heat records have been set this past April and May in India, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and the Republic of Maldives. The unprecedented heat has killed hundreds in India and dozens in Thailand so far. But nothing in the record books can compare to what has recently occurred in Thailand: a large country with over 120 meteorological sites that has seen half of its official weather stations break their all-time heat records. Here are the details.

We knew the ‘super’ El Nino this past year would have a big affect on the world’s climate. It did not produce the hoped for big rains in California but it did produce the heat and drought in Southeast Asia as forecast. Of all the countries effected the most by this event Thailand has proven to see something exceptional weather-wise: more than half of all the country’s official weather sites reported their all-time heat records during the months of April and May. Thailand’s meteorological service only dates back to 1951 but it is a large country with over 120 official observation sites and a sophisticated observation network. Thus it is truly amazing that at least 66 of these 120 sites measured their hottest temperature on record during the brief period of April 10-May 22.


EDIT

Of all the nations affected by the heat waves over the past two months Thailand has probably experienced the most widespread anomalous temperature departures. Never before in modern history has the country (at least since the establishment of its meteorological department in 1951) experienced such a widespread and prolonged heat event. Every region of the country experienced all-time record high temperatures: from Hat Yai in the far south to Mae Hong Son in the far north and Ubon Ratchathani in the far east. Every region and province saw sites exceed previous observed record maximum temperatures and every type of environment was affected: high mountains (as represented by Doi Ang Kang at 1530 m/5000’) and islands, such as the iconic beach resorts of Phuket and Ko Samui.



66 sites out of the 120 appear to have set or tied their all-time heat records during the April 10-May 22 time frame: that is 55% of all the weather stations in the country. I know of no other nation the size of Thailand and with the extensive network of weather sites, that has ever seen this large a proportion of their weather stations observe all-time heat records over such a brief span of time. A caveat is that many of the sites listed in the table above have relatively short PORs (periods of record) in some cases dating back to just the 1990s or 2000. Curiously, Bangkok, Thailand’s largest city and one of the hottest metropolises in the world (in terms of average annual temperature) failed to top its record of 40.8°C (105.4°F) set back on May 22, 1983 (at its Don Muang Airport site). The warmest reading this spring has been a modest 39.9°C (103.8°F) on April 23rd. The heat wave has subsided somewhat now as the rainy season gets underway. Hopefully, the rains this summer will make a dent in the serious drought that has been affecting the country and much of Southeast Asia.

EDIT

https://www.wunderground.com/blog/weatherhistorian/half-of-thailands-weather-sites-break-alltime-heat-records-in-42-day

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