The Climate of
Cambodia
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Buddhist shrine at Angkor Thom
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Climate Map
Climate map of Cambodia
What is the climate of Cambodia like?
Cambodia is a small country in Indo-China, about the same size as England. It has a short southwest coastline on the Gulf of Thailand. It has land borders with Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam on the west, north, and east respectively.
As in the rest of Southeast Asia, the climate in Cambodia is dominated by the monsoon, which is described as tropical wet and dry due to the pronounced seasonal differences. The monsoonal air currents are caused by annually changing high and low pressure levels over the Central Asian landmass. In summer, humid air—the southwest monsoon—is drawn inland from the Indian Ocean. In winter, the flow reverses and the northeast monsoon sends back dry air. The southwest monsoon brings the rainy season from May to October, and the northeast monsoon, with dry and cool air, lasts from early November to March. The southern third of the country has a dry season of around two to three months; in the northern two-thirds of the country, the dry season extends to four-months.
Cambodia has a humid, tropical climate. There is little seasonal variation in temperatures, which generally range between 20° and 36°C (68°F to 97°F). The two seasons are determined by the monsoons. During the northeast monsoon, from November to April, dry weather prevails and the temperature averages from 25° to 27°C (77° to 80°F). During the southwest monsoon, from the middle of May to October, rain falls daily and the temperature varies between 29° and 35°C (85° to 95°F).
The wettest weather is to be found in the hilly region in southwest Cambodia where the slopes facing the Gulf of Thailand have a heavy rainfall. Elsewhere the country is low-lying and rainfall is rather lower. The total annual rainfall average is between 1,000 and 1,500 millimeters (40–60 inches) in the great central basin, but the amount varies considerably from year to year. Rainfall is heaviest in the mountains along the coast in the southwest, which receive from 2,500 to more than 5,000 millimeters (100–200 inches) of precipitation annually as the southwest monsoon reaches the coast. This area of greatest rainfall, however, drains mostly to the sea; only a small quantity goes into the rivers flowing into the basin. Typhoons—tropical cyclones—that often devastate coastal Vietnam rarely cause damage in Cambodia.
| Climate data for Phnom Penh (1988–2013) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.6 (88.9) | 33.2 (91.8) | 34.6 (94.3) | 35.3 (95.5) | 34.8 (94.6) | 33.8 (92.8) | 32.9 (91.2) | 32.7 (90.9) | 32.2 (90.0) | 31.4 (88.5) | 31.1 (88.0) | 30.8 (87.4) | 32.9 (91.2) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 26.6 (79.9) | 28.0 (82.4) | 29.4 (84.9) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.0 (86.0) | 29.2 (84.6) | 28.7 (83.7) | 28.5 (83.3) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.2 (81.0) | 27.1 (80.8) | 26.3 (79.3) | 28.3 (82.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 21.8 (71.2) | 22.8 (73.0) | 24.3 (75.7) | 25.5 (77.9) | 25.6 (78.1) | 24.9 (76.8) | 24.8 (76.6) | 24.6 (76.3) | 24.4 (75.9) | 24.2 (75.6) | 23.2 (73.8) | 21.9 (71.4) | 24.0 (75.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 12.1 (0.48) | 6.6 (0.26) | 34.8 (1.37) | 78.8 (3.10) | 118.2 (4.65) | 145.0 (5.71) | 162.1 (6.38) | 182.7 (7.19) | 270.9 (10.67) | 248.1 (9.77) | 120.5 (4.74) | 32.1 (1.26) | 1,411.9 (55.58) |
| Source: Deutscher Wetterdienst | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Sihanoukville | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 31.3 (88.3) | 31.2 (88.2) | 32.1 (89.8) | 33.7 (92.7) | 32.3 (90.1) | 31.2 (88.2) | 30.0 (86.0) | 30.8 (87.4) | 30.8 (87.4) | 30.8 (87.4) | 31.2 (88.2) | 31.7 (89.1) | 31.4 (88.6) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 27.6 (81.7) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.8 (83.8) | 29.4 (84.9) | 29.6 (85.3) | 28.8 (83.8) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.0 (82.4) | 27.8 (82.0) | 27.8 (82.0) | 27.6 (81.7) | 28.3 (82.9) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 23.9 (75.0) | 24.6 (76.3) | 25.4 (77.7) | 25.0 (77.0) | 26.8 (80.2) | 26.3 (79.3) | 25.9 (78.6) | 25.1 (77.2) | 25.2 (77.4) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 23.5 (74.3) | 25.1 (77.1) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 28.3 (1.11) | 25.2 (0.99) | 50.3 (1.98) | 124.8 (4.91) | 207.3 (8.16) | 252.7 (9.95) | 341.4 (13.44) | 377.2 (14.85) | 320.6 (12.62) | 290.4 (11.43) | 138.2 (5.44) | 54.4 (2.14) | 2,210.8 (87.02) |
| Source: worldweatheronline.com | |||||||||||||
The dry season from December to April is hot and sunshine averages about eight hours a day. The main rainy season is much more cloudy; humidity is higher, and the weather is then sultry and oppressive. The relative humidity is high at night throughout the year; usually it exceeds 90 percent. During the daytime in the dry season, humidity averages about 50 percent or slightly lower, but it may remain about 60 percent in the rainy period.
References
- E. A. Pearce, Charles Gordon Smith, (1990) The Hutchinson World Weather Guide, John Murray Press. ISBN 1859863426
- Timothy L. Gall, (ed.), (2003), Worldmark Encyclopedia of the Nations, Eleventh Edition, Thomson Gale
- Federal Research Division, Library of Congress, (1990), Cambodia: a country study. Claitor's Pub. Division.
- Hugh Chisholm, (ed.), (1911), Encyclopædia Britannica, Eleventh edition, Cambridge University Press
The Climate of
Cambodia
In summary:
Cambodia has a humid, tropical climate with little seasonal variation in temperature. Temperatures range from 20° to 36°C (68 to 97°F), and humidity is consistently high.
There is a wet season from May through November and a dry season from December to April. Rainfall is highest in the southwestern mountains.