Climate

In addition, the Eastern Sea also affects Vietnam’s tropical monsoon climate. The monsoon climate does not spread evenly all over the Vietnamese territory, where there are different regions with different climates. Vietnam’s climate changes by seasons and by regions from the lowland to highland, from North to South and from East to West. Given the strong influence of the Northwest monsoon, the average temperature in Vietnam is lower than many Asian countries located at the same latitude.

There are two major climate regions in Vietnam. Northern Vietnam (from Mong Cai to Hai Van pass) has a highly-humid tropical monsoon climate with four distinguishable seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter) and is influenced by the Northeast and Southeast monsoon. Southern Vietnam (from Hai Van pass to Ha Tien) has a rather moderate tropical climate given the weak influence of monsoon and is characterized by dry and rainy seasons and warm weather all year round.

In addition, given the topographical structure, there are some sub-climate regions in Vietnam including regions with temperate climate, such as Sa Pa (Lao Cai province), Da Lat (Lam Dong province) and regions with mainland climate such as Lai Chau, Son La, all of which are ideal places for tourism.

The average temperature in Vietnam varies between 21°C and 27°C and increases from the North to the South. In summer, the average temperature is 25°C (Hanoi 23°C, Hue 25°C, Ho Chi Minh City 26°C). In winter, temperature in the North reaches the lowest in December and January. In Northern mountainous regions such as Sa Pa, Tam Dao and Hoang Lien Son, the temperature is sometimes down to 0°C with snow.

Vietnam’s climate is also characterized by a considerable amount of sunshine with the number of sunny hours varying between 1,400 and 3,000 per year. The average rainfall each year stands between 1,500 mm and 2,000 mm. Air humidity is 80%. Given the influence of monsoon and complex topography, Vietnam is often prone to natural disasters such as storms, floods and droughts (each year, the country suffers from 6 to 10 tropical storms).

Copyright: Ministry of Foreign Affairs