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Bhutan Climate
Bhutan's climate is as varied as its altitudes and,
like most
of Asia, is affected by monsoons. Western Bhutan is
particularly
affected by monsoons that bring between 60 and 90 percent
of the
region's rainfall. The climate is humid and subtropical in
the
southern plains and foothills, temperate in the inner
Himalayan
valleys of the southern and central regions, and cold in
the north,
with year-round snow on the main Himalayan summits.
Temperatures vary according to elevation. Temperatures
in
Thimphu, located at 2,200 meters above sea level in
west-central
Bhutan, range from approximately 15° C to 26° C during the
monsoon
season of June through September but drop to between about
-4° C and
16° C in January (see
table 22, Appendix). Most of the
central
portion of the country experiences a cool, temperate
climate yearround . In the south, a hot, humid climate helps maintain a
fairly
even temperature range of between 15° C and 30° C
year-round,
although temperatures sometimes reach 40° C in the valleys
during
the summer.
Annual precipitation ranges widely in various parts of
the
country. In the severe climate of the north, there is only
about
forty millimeters of annual precipitation--primarily snow.
In the
temperate central regions, a yearly average of around
1,000
millimeters is more common, and 7,800 millimeters per year
has been
registered at some locations in the humid, subtropical
south,
ensuring the thick tropical forest, or savanna. Thimphu
experiences
dry winter months (December through February) and almost
no
precipitation until March, when rainfall averages 20
millimeters a
month and increases steadily thereafter to a high of 220
millimeters in August for a total annual rainfall of
nearly 650
millimeters.
Bhutan's generally dry spring starts in early March and
lasts
until mid-April. Summer weather commences in mid-April
with
occasional showers and continues through the premonsoon
rains of
late June. The summer monsoon lasts from late June through
late
September with heavy rains from the southwest. The monsoon
weather,
blocked from its northward progress by the Himalayas,
brings heavy
rains, high humidity, flash floods and landslides, and
numerous
misty, overcast days. Autumn, from late September or early
October
to late November, follows the rainy season. It is
characterized by
bright, sunny days and some early snowfalls at higher
elevations.
From late November until March, winter sets in, with frost
throughout much of the country and snowfall common above
elevations
of 3,000 meters. The winter northeast monsoon brings
gale-force
winds down through high mountain passes, giving Bhutan its
name--
Drukyul, which in the Dzongkha language mean Land of the
Thunder
Dragon.
Data as of September 1991
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