Climate in Laos

Laos is a small, landlocked, mountainous country, covered with dense forests. Its climate is tropical in most of parts, and isdivided into two distinct seasons in a year: dry season and wet season.

The Dry season is divided into two subsections: firstly from November – February, called cool dry season and from March – April is the hot dry season. The Cool, dry season offers relatively low temperature and is cool in the morning, and night times, but sunshine in the day times which offer cleaner air, and with it great view. The average temperature is around 17 – 25 degrees celsius, in some northern provinces; but in the higher altitudes, the temperature can be drop down to 10 degrees celsius, especially in the Northeast provinces of Xiengkhuang, Huaphan, Phongsaly, Say Somboun.    

The Hot, dry season: is quite hot and humid. April is the hottest month, during which the Lao New Year (Song Kran) is held, in middle of this month, for everyone to enjoy throwing water at each other. It is also the period of slash and burn for farmers to cultivate and prepare the land for cropping in coming rainy season. There will be lots of smoke, which covers large areas of Laos. It can become really irritating to the eyes.

Wet season: Runs from May to October, as with many Southeast Asia countries. The extreme Phongsaly Province and northeast provinces it can start a little earlier, due to high mountains, with dense forests and is the wettest part of the country. In general, most parts of Laos the monsoon is characterized by a downpour for a few hours each day, accept some period in July and August, it can be torrential downpours, consequently  August is the wettest month of the year.  As Laos is mountainous,  it will cost travelers time to negotiate as the road is soggy and causes more delay than usual.

October to March is  recommended as the best time for visiting Laos, and please note that November – Feb is the peak season for tourists in Laos. If you plan to visit this period, be sure you book services and accommodation in advance. However, the wet season also a good experiences to excursion Laos. The weather is not always pouring rain, it will be usually sunny after  few hours rain,  just note to get well prepared for it, just in case.