Winter Weather in Xam Nua Laos

Daily high temperatures increase by 10°F, from 70°F to 79°F, rarely falling below 57°F or exceeding 89°F. The lowest daily average high temperature is 68°F on December 17.

Daily low temperatures increase by 4°F, from 49°F to 53°F, rarely falling below 36°F or exceeding 59°F. The lowest daily average low temperature is 46°F on January 1.

For reference, on April 24, the hottest day of the year, temperatures in Xam Nua typically range from 64°F to 87°F, while on January 1, the coldest day of the year, they range from 46°F to 68°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.

La Mendieta, Argentina (11,698 miles away); Windhoek, Namibia (6,574 miles); and Mashava, Zimbabwe (5,710 miles) are the far-away foreign places with temperatures most similar to Xam Nua (view comparison).

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The winter in Xam Nua experiences gradually decreasing cloud cover, with the percentage of time that the sky is overcast or mostly cloudy decreasing from 39% to 33%. The lowest chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 32% on February 22.

The clearest day of the winter is February 22, with clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy conditions 68% of the time.

For reference, on June 13, the cloudiest day of the year, the chance of overcast or mostly cloudy conditions is 94%, while on February 21, the clearest day of the year, the chance of clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy skies is 68%.

A wet day is one with at least 0.04 inches of liquid or liquid-equivalent precipitation. In Xam Nua, the chance of a wet day over the course of the winter is essentially constant, remaining around 4% throughout.

For reference, the year's highest daily chance of a wet day is 53% on August 24, and its lowest chance is 2% on January 27.

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 Xam Nua is essentially constant, remaining about 0.3 inches throughout, and rarely exceeding 1.5 inches or falling below -0.0 inches.

The lowest average 31-day accumulation is 0.2 inches on January 28.

Over the course of the winter in Xam Nua, the length of the day is increasing. From the start to the end of the season, the length of the day increases by 44 minutes, implying an average daily increase of 30 seconds, and weekly increase of 3 minutes, 29 seconds.

The shortest day of the winter is December 22, with 10 hours, 54 minutes of daylight and the longest day is February 28, with 11 hours, 43 minutes of daylight.

The earliest sunrise of the winter in Xam Nua is 6:23 AM on December 1 and the latest sunrise is 19 minutes later at 6:42 AM on January 17.

The earliest sunset is 5:22 PM on December 1 and the latest sunset is 46 minutes later at 6:08 PM on February 28.

Daylight saving time is not observed in Xam Nua during 2024.

For reference, on June 20, the longest day of the year, the Sun rises at 5:24 AM and sets 13 hours, 22 minutes later, at 6:46 PM, while on December 21, the shortest day of the year, it rises at 6:35 AM and sets 10 hours, 54 minutes later, at 5:28 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 Xam Nua is essentially constant during the winter, remaining around 0% throughout.

The lowest chance of a muggy day during the winter is 0% on December 30.

For reference, on August 14, the muggiest day of the year, there are muggy conditions 91% of the time, while on December 29, the least muggy day of the year, there are muggy conditions 0% 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 Xam Nua is essentially constant during the winter, remaining within 0.2 miles per hour of 2.8 miles per hour throughout.

For reference, on March 9, the windiest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 3.0 miles per hour, while on August 20, the calmest day of the year, the daily average wind speed is 2.2 miles per hour.

The hourly average wind direction in Xam Nua throughout the winter is predominantly from the east, with a peak proportion of 78% on December 1.

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 Xam Nua 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 Xam Nua are very rapidly decreasing during the winter, decreasing by 5,715°F, from 6,286°F to 571°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 Xam Nua is gradually increasing during the winter, rising by 1.0 kWh, from 4.4 kWh to 5.4 kWh, over the course of the season.

The lowest average daily incident shortwave solar energy during the winter is 4.4 kWh on December 18.

For the purposes of this report, the geographical coordinates of Xam Nua are 20.416 deg latitude, 104.048 deg longitude, and 3,136 ft elevation.

The topography within 2 miles of Xam Nua contains very significant variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 1,437 feet and an average elevation above sea level of 3,384 feet. Within 10 miles contains very significant variations in elevation (3,668 feet). Within 50 miles also contains extreme variations in elevation (6,473 feet).

The area within 2 miles of Xam Nua is covered by trees (75%) and cropland (25%), within 10 miles by trees (84%) and grassland (10%), and within 50 miles by trees (80%).