Winter Weather in Luang Namtha Laos

Daily high temperatures increase by 11°F, from 74°F to 85°F, rarely falling below 64°F or exceeding 91°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 72°F on December 20.

Daily low temperatures are around 54°F, rarely falling below 45°F or exceeding 62°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 52°F on January 3.

For reference, on April 11, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Luang Namtha typically range from 67°F to 90°F, while on January 3, the coldest day of the year, they range from 52°F to 73°F.

The figure below shows you a compact characterization of the hourly average winter temperatures. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the color is the average temperature for that hour and day.

Londrina, Brazil (10,688 miles away); Lupane, Zimbabwe (5,695 miles); and Masoko, Tanzania (5,049 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Luang Namtha (view comparison).

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The winter in Luang Namtha experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 32% to 24%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 22% on February 21.

The clearest day of the winter is February 21, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 78% of the time.

For reference, on July 15, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 92%, while on February 21, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 78%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Luang Namtha, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is essentially constant, remaining around 5% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 64% on July 23, and its lowest chance is 3% on January 20.

Rainfall

To show variation within the season and not just the monthly totals, we show the rainfall accumulated over a sliding 31-day period centered around each day.

The average sliding 31-day rainfall during the winter in Luang Namtha is essentially constant, remaining about 0.5 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 2.1 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.2 inches on January 23.

Over the course of the winter in Luang Namtha, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 46 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 31 seconds, and weekly increase of 3 minutes, 35 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 21, with 10 hours, 52 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 43 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the winter in Luang Namtha is 6:34 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 19 minutes later at 6:53 AM on January 17.

The earliest sunset is 5:32 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 46 minutes later at 6:18 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Luang Namtha during 2024.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:33 AM and sets 13 hours, 24 minutes later, at 6:58 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:46 AM and sets 10 hours, 52 minutes later, at 5:38 PM.

The figure below presents a compact representation of the sun's elevation (the angle of the sun above the horizon) and azimuth (its compass bearing) for every hour of every day in the reporting period. The horizontal axis is the day of the year and the vertical axis is the hour of the day. For a given day and hour of that day, the background color indicates the azimuth of the sun at that moment. The black isolines are contours of constant solar elevation.

The figure below presents a compact representation of key lunar data for the winter of 2024. The horizontal axis is the day, the vertical axis is the hour of the day, and the colored areas indicate when the moon is above the horizon. The vertical gray bars (new Moons) and blue bars (full Moons) indicate key Moon phases. The label associated with each bar indicates the date and time that the phase is obtained, and the companion time labels indicate the rise and set times of the Moon for the nearest time interval in which the moon is above the horizon.

We base the humidity comfort level on the dew point, as it determines whether perspiration will evaporate from the skin, thereby cooling the body. Lower dew points feel drier and higher dew points feel more humid. Unlike temperature, which typically varies significantly between night and day, dew point tends to change more slowly, so while the temperature may drop at night, a muggy day is typically followed by a muggy night.

The chance that a given day will be muggy in Luang Namtha is decreasing during the winter, falling from 32% to 25% over the course of the season.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 12% on January 5.

For reference, on August 19, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 100% of the time, while on January 5, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 12% of the time.

This section discusses the wide-area hourly average wind vector (speed and direction) at 10 meters above the ground. The wind experienced at any given location is highly dependent on local topography and other factors, and instantaneous wind speed and direction vary more widely than hourly averages.

The average hourly wind speed in Luang Namtha is gradually increasing during the winter, increasing from 2.7 miles per hour to 3.4 miles per hour over the course of the season.

For reference, on March 18, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 3.5 miles per hour, while on August 25, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 2.3 miles per hour.

The wind direction in Luang Namtha during the winter is predominantly out of the east from December 1 to January 24 and the west from January 24 to February 28.

Definitions of the growing season vary throughout the world, but for the purposes of this report, we define it as the longest continuous period of non-freezing temperatures (≥ 32°F) in the year (the calendar year in the Northern Hemisphere, or from July 1 until June 30 in the Southern Hemisphere).

Temperatures in Luang Namtha are sufficiently warm year round that it is not entirely meaningful to discuss the growing season in these terms. We nevertheless include the chart below as an illustration of the distribution of temperatures experienced throughout the year.

Growing degree days are a measure of yearly heat accumulation used to predict plant and animal development, and defined as the integral of warmth above a base temperature, discarding any excess above a maximum temperature. In this report, we use a base of 50°F and a cap of 86°F.

The average accumulated growing degree days in Luang Namtha are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 6,793°F, from 7,589°F to 796°F, over the course of the season.

This section discusses the total daily incident shortwave solar energy reaching the surface of the ground over a wide area, taking full account of seasonal variations in the length of the day, the elevation of the Sun above the horizon, and absorption by clouds and other atmospheric constituents. Shortwave radiation includes visible light and ultraviolet radiation.

The average daily incident shortwave solar energy in Luang Namtha is increasing during the winter, rising by 1.2 kWh, from 4.6 kWh to 5.8 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 4.5 kWh on December 18.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Luang Namtha are 20.949 deg latitude, 101.402 deg longitude, and 1,808 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Luang Namtha contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 279 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 1,820 feet. Within 10 miles contains only modest variations in elevation (3,150 feet). Within 50 miles contains large variations in elevation (5,417 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Luang Namtha is covered by cropland (51%) and trees (49%), within 10 miles by trees (95%), and within 50 miles by trees (89%).