…and after a year in the U.S., experiencing, once again, Thailand’s glorious tropical heat. (And it’s not even hot season.)
The temps here remind me of this May 2012 Tweet and photo from Annelie (@a_nnelie):
CNN explains why it's so hot in Thailand pic.twitter.com/5fjA9DzH
— Annelie (@a_nnelie) May 2, 2012
Sometimes that’s truly how it feels here, especially when you’re coming from cooler climes.
This was the scene on the Columbia campus around mid-day yesterday:
Yes — it was sunny. And with temperatures in the 60s, it felt almost hot after the last several months of winter.
People were wearing shorts. And napping on lawns. And buying treats from a frozen yogurt truck.
Yes, springtime weather has arrived.
Finally.
Hallelujah.
That is all.
I’m back in New York.
And cold.
This is the weather I left behind in Thailand:
And this is the weather here in NYC:
But I shall survive. Bring on the spring semester!
That is all.
I’ve mentioned the recent spell of sweltering weather we’ve been suffering through here in Bangkok.
Well, we finally have a graphic that illustrates how hot it feels.
Yes, it feels like Thailand is on fire.
Thanks to Annelie (@a_nnelie) for Tweeting this pic yesterday:
CNN explains why it’s so hot in Thailand twitter.com/a_nnelie/statu…
— Annelie (@a_nnelie) May 2, 2012
(For the record, if this is a recent broadcast, I wasn’t able to locate any related story on the CNN Web site. Perhaps this graphic was related to recent drought problems, though.)
(Image: @a_nnelie.)
Just noting for the record: It is extremely hot here in the Thai capital.
It was 99 degrees Fahrenheit — that’s 37 degrees Celsius — at 4 p.m. today.
That is all.
I know it’s been all-Thailand-flooding-all-of-the-time in these parts, but a quick note: This will come as no surprise to readers here in Bangkok, but the weather in the city has been absolutely delightful for the past week or so.
We’ve been spared the daily downpours as the rainy season has come to a close, and patches of bright blue have begun peeking through the normally overcast skies.
But what I’ve loved most of all is the relatively — and, if memory serves, unseasonably — “cool” temperatures.
We have been enjoying, if you can believe it, lows in the low 70s Fahrenheit (low 20s Celsius) in the mornings and at night. And it’s been even colder in northern Thailand.
Okay, so it’s hardly frigid here in Krungthep, but for a tropical climate, this dip in temps means the option of occasionally wearing long sleeve shirts. It means walking long distances without perspiring. And — at least for me — it means the ability to open the windows in my office and enjoy the cool breeze, rather than having to rely on air conditioning for a comfortable working environment.
(Oh, and in case you’re wondering: As of yet, we have not forced our adopted street dog to bundle up with a sweater due to the cold, though other pooches in the neighborhood have not been spared such indignities.)
I’m not the only one who’s taken note of this meteorological change, of course: See the #ThaiCold Twitter hashtag for others’ reactions (mostly in Thai).
Here’s to the “cool” temperatures. Fingers crossed this weather holds through February.
Bangkok residents woke up to something extraordinary this morning: chilly weather.
Okay, so today’s low temperature was still a rather comfortable 64 degrees Fahrenheit, or 18 degrees Celsius. And yes, temps are still climbing up to 80 degrees F (27 degrees C) during the day.
But still. But still.
This is tropical Thailand, don’t forget, where the average monthly temperature in Bangkok never dips below 77 degrees F (25 degrees C).
I love the Kingdom in November and December. For one thing, these “brisk” temperatures mean that you can actually walk down the street without breaking a sweat.
And there’s a sports-related bonus: ESPNSTAR has been carrying the World Series games live. That means that the sounds of baseball can be heard emanating from the TV in the mornings. (Here’s hoping that the Phillies can force games six and seven.)
Between the MLB action and the “chill” in the air, it almost feels like fall in the U.S.
(Weather forecast via CNNGo.)
Fog. In Bangkok.
This is what the city looked like this morning when I got up. A rare meteorological event here in the Thai captial.
The strange weather — first the unseasonable coolness, which has since abated, sadly — and now this. The fog was thick enough on Thursday, in fact, to cause disruptions in service at Suvarnabhumi airport.
