Climate of Bhutan

Climate of Bhutan

Where is the country of Bhutan located? Bhutan, officially known as the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country, located in Southern Asia between China and India. Bhutan has a warm maritime climate, which is greatly influenced by its location in the North Atlantic Ocean. The islands are heated by the warm Gulf Stream that flows along them and the westerly wind belts that blow along them. These winds bring warm, moist air from the east to the islands. In the winter months, winds from the Arctic can bring extremely cold air that’s around freezing, causing temperatures in the Bermuda Islands to drop to 10 degrees Celsius. However, these are extremes that rarely occur, the cold record is 7.2 degrees Celsius. In the hottest months of the year, the average humidity is quite high. Tropical storms and hurricanes can occur in the second half of the year.

Dry and wet season

Bhutan has a distinct dry season, which runs from November to March. April and October are transition months between the dry season and the monsoon. The wet season lasts from May to September. During this period almost the total annual precipitation falls. In the winter months there is little precipitation. In the middle and high mountains this is almost always in the form of snow, the low plains and valleys do not often have to do with winter precipitation, because the average day temperature there is well above freezing in the winter months. The highest mountain peaks, which you will find mainly in the northern part of Bhutan, are covered with eternal snow and glaciers from a height of about 6000 meters.

Temperature

Due to its location in the Himalayas, Bhutan is often mistakenly thought to be cold. In winter it is indeed cold on the high mountain peaks, but on the medium altitudes there is generally only light or sometimes moderate frost during the night. Even during the winter months, the 4 to 10 degrees are easily reached during the day. Locally it can even get a bit warmer. In the summer months the average maximum temperature is between 15 and 25 degrees Celsius. Warm days when the thermometer rises to the tropical limit of 30 degrees are also possible, especially in the warmer south.

Climate figures

The figures below are based on long-term average climate statistics. The temperatures are displayed in degrees Celsius (°C).

Maximum temperature Minimum temperature Hours of sunshine per day Days of rainfall per month
January 9℃ -4℃ 8 1
February 11℃ -3℃ 7 1
March 14℃ 3℃ 8 3
April 17℃ 6℃ 8 6
May 20℃ 12℃ 7 12
June 23℃ 13℃ 6 17
July 27℃ 13℃ 5 21
August 25℃ 15℃ 5 21
September 22℃ 14℃ 5 15
October 21℃ 9℃ 7 5
November 17℃ 3℃ 8 2
December 13℃ -2℃ 8 1

Best time to visit Bhutan

Do you want to know when is the best time to travel to Bhutan? You can determine the best time to travel to a destination based on the weather and climate. In addition, there are other factors that are not directly related to the weather and that can influence the best travel periods for a travel destination. Think, for example, of holidays or festive periods, which makes traveling more interesting or not, because daily life comes to a standstill as a result. The small Asian country of Bhutan is partly located in the Himalayas and partly consists of subtropical lowlands. The warmest and lowest areas are in southern Bhutan. The further north you go, the higher you rise, and the average temperatures drop as you rise above sea level. Summer is synonymous with monsoons in much of Bhutan, when significant amounts of rain fall from the sky. This can cause nuisance in all kinds of forms, such as floods and mudslides. Some roads in Bhutan become temporarily impassable in the summer and have to be closed as a result. Because of the relative cold in winter, especially at higher altitudes, we would like to indicate spring and autumn as the best travel time for Bhutan. If you want to travel around Bhutan, we would choose two specific periods for this. The first period is from the beginning of March to the second half of April. The weather is fine in large parts of the country, with the caveat that it can still be cold in the highest mountain areas, especially during the night. A second good time to travel to Bhutan is between mid-October and mid-November. The monsoon is then over and the serious cold has not yet set in in the higher regions.

Tropical Cyclones

Due to its location within the Asian continent, Bhutan is not directly affected by cyclones, as hurricanes are called in this part of the world. The cyclones that reach Bangladesh further south could affect the weather in Bhutan. They can bring significant amounts of rain and in the mountains a lot of snow in a short time. The period in which cyclones can form is from mid-April to early December.

Bhutan