Weather and Climate in Myanmar
Myanmar has a tropical monsoon type of climate with a marked difference between a cooler, dry season from November to April and a hotter, wet season from May until September or October. This seasonal contrast is a result of the great reversal of winds that occurs over south Asia.
As in India, the dry season is dominated by the northeast monsoon blowing overland from China. Differences of altitude within Myanmar, and the degree of exposure to the rainy southwest monsoon, are responsible for the main differences of climate within the country. The coastal mountains and the higher mountains of the north and east have abundant or heavy rainfall that ranges from 2,500 mm/100 in to 5,000 mm/200 in a year. The interior lowlands, sheltered from the direct effect of the southwest monsoon, receive as little as 1,000 mm/40 in or even less. Over most of the country at least three-quarters of the annual rainfall occurs during the season of the southwest monsoon.
In the lowlands, and particularly on the coast, temperatures are hot throughout the year. The highest temperatures occur during the period March to May before the onset of the heaviest rains. Temperatures are lower in the hills, but for most of the year the weather at places below 1,200 m/4,000 ft can be described as hot and tropical.
