CLIMATE & WEATHER

Cambodia is under the tropical climate—warm and humid. Receiving the monsoon every year, the country has two main seasons—the dry season and the rainy season. When the wind of monsoon wags from Indian Ocean northeastward across Cambodia (from May to October), it bring abundant rains during these six months; that is, a rainy season for cultivation. In this season, they can divide in into two smaller seasons. From May to August, temperature is moderately cool.

The average temperature is approximately 22-30º C., with mostly rainfalls in the morning. In this sub-season, there are fewer rains in the late of July and the early of August. Another sub-season covers over September and October.

It is the cool-wet season with the average of 25-30º C. And the rains infrequently fall in the morning, but mostly in the afternoon and the evening.

Because of the mountainous area as rainfall hedge, the costal area receive over 5,000 mm of rain per annum, while the central lowlands only get about 1,400mm. Tourists can visit Cambodia during wet season, but during the months of serious rainfall, it is a little bit difficult to travel throughout Cambodia because frequently most part of the country is flooded by the growing-up water of Mekong River.

From November to April, the dry wind wags from Siberia southwestward to the Indian Ocean across Cambodia.

This duration of time is the dry season with two more sub-seasons. The first runs from November to February when have the coolest temperature of the year in Cambodia.

The temperature range is from 20ºC to 28ºC only. It is the best time for tourists to visit Cambodia because it is not too cool or too warm; and the overall landscape of the country becomes green and golden of tropic forests and rice paddies.

Additionally, this sub-season is time that Cambodians produce abundant of agricultural outputs. In contrast, the last sub-season, which lasts over March and April, is the warmest season of the year; the temperature range is from 30ºC to 35ºC. Although so warm, it is still good for traveling throughout the country.

According this climate, Cambodia is not too cool or too hot if we compare to other countries based in Africa and some regions of Asia. The change rate of temperature is less than 4ºC from a season to another season. Especially, visiting Cambodia, tourists are not harmed by natural disasters such as erupting volcanoes, earthquakes, and tropical storms.