PHUKET has a weather system all its own.The dousing delivered over the past few days only confirms that it's perfectly realistic for it to be sunny in the south while the north is soaking.
As any longtime Phuket resident will tell you, it's possible to be dry, travel a half-kilometre through one of the densest rain storm ever, then within seconds emerge perfectly dry on the other side.
August, especially over the past few days, has cast some grey skies over ''Summer.''
But the island has been twice as wet around the airport as further south or east, for that matter.
Here are the key rainfall statistics:
Airport Thursday 69.76mm; Friday 146.60mm; Saturday 40.1mm.
August total last year: 252.9mm; August so far this year: 490.9mm.
However on Thursday, while 69.76mm dumped at the airport, down in Phuket City only 17mm was recorded. And on Friday, while a massive 164.60mm drowned the airport gauge, the one in Phuket City recorded 67.7mm. And on Saturday, the comparison was 21.3mm to 40.1mm.
While the airport total for August is almost 500mm, Phuket City has had almost half that - 255.7mm. Driest of all is Karon with 244mm. Pa Klok has had 284mm and Kamala 316mm.
Somewhat surprisingly, while the airport was being doused by that massive 146.60mm on Friday, Pa Klok recorded a mere 14mm.
Kamala was moderately wet, with 104mm, but Phuket City had just 67.7mm and Karon 57.5mm.
The airport tends to be a wetter place, but sometimes the sun does break through. Last year, there were 15 wet days in August at the airport, compared to 19 in Phuket City.
So far this year, Phuket City has had 19 wet days . . . while the number at the airport has increased to 23 wet days to date.
If you want a holiday in guaranteed summer sunshine, there are provinces in Thailand still suffering from drought. Unfortunately they don't have beaches.
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As any longtime Phuket resident will tell you, it's possible to be dry, travel a half-kilometre through one of the densest rain storm ever, then within seconds emerge perfectly dry on the other side.
August, especially over the past few days, has cast some grey skies over ''Summer.''
But the island has been twice as wet around the airport as further south or east, for that matter.
Here are the key rainfall statistics:
Airport Thursday 69.76mm; Friday 146.60mm; Saturday 40.1mm.
August total last year: 252.9mm; August so far this year: 490.9mm.
However on Thursday, while 69.76mm dumped at the airport, down in Phuket City only 17mm was recorded. And on Friday, while a massive 164.60mm drowned the airport gauge, the one in Phuket City recorded 67.7mm. And on Saturday, the comparison was 21.3mm to 40.1mm.
While the airport total for August is almost 500mm, Phuket City has had almost half that - 255.7mm. Driest of all is Karon with 244mm. Pa Klok has had 284mm and Kamala 316mm.
Somewhat surprisingly, while the airport was being doused by that massive 146.60mm on Friday, Pa Klok recorded a mere 14mm.
Kamala was moderately wet, with 104mm, but Phuket City had just 67.7mm and Karon 57.5mm.
The airport tends to be a wetter place, but sometimes the sun does break through. Last year, there were 15 wet days in August at the airport, compared to 19 in Phuket City.
So far this year, Phuket City has had 19 wet days . . . while the number at the airport has increased to 23 wet days to date.
If you want a holiday in guaranteed summer sunshine, there are provinces in Thailand still suffering from drought. Unfortunately they don't have beaches.
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