Climate

24.01.11 Climate
So we’re in a cool dry period at the moment. There isn’t a winter, summer thing as such, just a combination of hot or cool, wet or dry. Our current cool dry weather means daytime temperatures of mid-30C, the hottest part of the day being 11am – 3 pm as you might expect. Though doing anything vaguely strenuous past 9.30am will get you sweaty. But by 3.30pm the heat of the day is dying and it is superlovely to take a stroll round town or wherever. It gets dark about 6.30pm and the mosquitoes are at their most active the hour before nightfall and the hour after sunrise. Night time temps can drop to as little as 16C but the evenings are still more than pleasant and certainly you don’t need a jacket. (Although the locals think it’s freezing. Pete saw a guy in a ski jacket the other day which frankly, made me feel queasy at the thought.)
I think I have acclimatised to the heat; at first I struggled a bit, feeling VERY uncomfortable and experiencing the delights of thighrub as a result of a) fat thighs and b) wearing a skirt. Oh, plus c) hot sun of course! You’d think wearing trousers would be the answer but then you have to contend with sweat patches around your groin. It really is SO glamorous isn’t it? The solution is clearly not to leave your airconditioned tower in the middle of the day and to this end I have pushed Alfie’s daytime nap to 11am so that he gets his two hours in the hottest part of the day. And it is TIRING all this relentless heat and sunshine. However I must be getting used to it because yesterday for the first time since we arrived, the pool water felt cool to me (we are the only ones mad enough to use it as everyone else declares it to be freezing. But they haven’t grown up swimming in Swedish lakes, have they?). Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining!
I am slightly dreading the next season though, which is hot dry, when daytime temperatures reach an average of 40C and the nights are not much cooler. That’s for 2 months, around March – May and then the hot wet season kicks in, i.e. Monsoon weather. Which I have never experienced and am a little excited by. This is the time of year you have to pack your leather and electrical goods next to an aircon unit as mildew takes over, and it’s impossible to dry your clothes apparently. Pete is dreading this as he can take heat over humidity any day. Unfortunately the Monsoon carries on until October, by which time we will all be heartily sick of rain I’m sure.
We are also prone to Cyclones. That is, cyclones will definitely hit Myanmar but it’s a question of intensity and geographical area of course. We may well miss out altogether here in Yangon, or at least barely notice.
Then it’s back to cool dry which is where we are now. Visitors are often urged to come between October and March as it’s so pleasant. I can vouch for that!