Thailand will enter its rainy season around the end of the second week of May and it will last until mid-October, with a temporary break from mid-June to mid-July, due to the effects of El Niño and La Niña phenomena, according to the Thai Meteorological Department.
In an announcement, issued this morning (Sunday), the department warned of more rain across the country, with very heavy rain forecast in the southern region, as an indirect result of the atmospheric depression in the middle of the Bay of Bengal, which is intensifying and is predicted to develop into cyclone today, but it will not have a direct impact on Thailand.
The department said, however, that the cyclone, which is looming over the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea, will intensify the south-easterly wind and this will bring more rain to most parts of the county, particularly to southern provinces, which may face heavy downpours and the possibility of flash flooding.
The Weatherman said that, following the break in the rainy season, rain will return and last until the end of the season in the middle of October.
During the rainy season, two tropical storms are forecast to affect the north-eastern and northern regions of Thailand between August and September.
The amount of accumulated rainfall during the rainy season this year is predicted to be about 3% higher than the average rainfall, but still lower than last year’s rainy season, when accumulated rainfall was 8% higher than average.
According to today’s announcement, the atmospheric depression, with wind speeds close to its centre measured at 55kph, was moving in a north-westerly direction at about 15km per hour and is intensifying into a cyclone.
Rough seas are predicted, with waves averaging two metres in height in the Andaman and up to two metres in the Gulf, said the department, as it warned fishermen and sailors to navigate with caution and to avoid stormy areas.
