If you are coming to Asia for kitesurfing lessons then click here for when and where to go 
How to Read the weather.
The best way to get a good understanding of when and where it will be windy is to read a surface pressure chart (see below). Most weather sites on the internet will have one of these chart available for viewing. I obtained the charts below from ccn weather site.
also check out other weather links for Asia on our links page
Northeast Monsoon
This shows a typical weather chart for winds during february in the 15-25 knots range in an easterly direction across most areas of Thailand. On east coast of Vietnam the wind were in the range of 25-35 knots. This weather pattern is an example of the NE monsoon. As can be seen a large high pressure system is located over China creating NE winds across most of SE asia.
|
Summer Time
This shows a typical summer period chart. There will be very little wind generated from the pressure system, as can be seen by the large distance between pressure lines. This is an ideal chart for great wind conditions in Hua Hin as the thermal breezes can occur with very little effect from the pressure systems. This chart actually indicates there will be a southerly wind across thailand thus giving the southeast sea breeze an extra kick. On this day we recieved winds between 14-18knots. Occasionally we will have a high pressure located over thailand during this period. This fights against the seas breeze resulting in poor winid conditions.
This chart shows almost zero influence of pressure systems in the SE Asian region, thus there will be next to no wind and very hot conditions. In the regions that receive thermal winds, the conditions will be best today.
|
Southwest monsoon
This chart shows the Low pressure system moving further to the north of thailand during these months thus creating a Southwest wind dierction. This chart is taken from a day in May, and showing a large amounts of rain throughout areas in SE Asia with SW winds.
|
Quick hints for reading a surface pressure chart.
* In the Northern Hemisphere, high pressure systems cause the wind to rotate clockwise around the center (counter clockwise in the southern hemisphere)
* In the Northern Hemisphere, low pressure systems cause the wind to rotate counter clockwise around the center (clockwise in the southern hemisphere)
* The closer the pressure lines are together the stronger the wind will be.
* Isobar pressure lines are measured in mB (milli bars) and are usually in 2 mB intervals.
Below is another example of a surface pressure chart for SE Asia in March.
Below is a general explanantion on the weather, explaining the basic causes and effects of the wind.
The Creation of Wind - taken from a source on the web, but i forgot to copy the link. (lawyers please don't get us for plagarism)
The Earth's weather is a complex system designed to redistribute the heat energy that the Sun delivers. The Sun's rays strike the equatorial regions with more concentration, causing the surrounding air to be heated. This lighter, hot air rises in updrafts, then travels towards the poles, high in the atmosphere. When it cools, the air becomes denser, sinks down to sea level and returns towards the Equator, replacing the warm air and completing the heat exchange process. These parcels of air are measured by barometric pressure, whereby the warmer, lighter packages of air are known as high pressures and the colder, denser air is called an area of low pressure. The air in a high pressure is attracted to areas of low pressure and rushes towards it, creating winds. The rotation of the Earth deflects the wind from taking a direct route to the poles, a phenomenon known as the coriolis force. In the northern hemisphere, this causes the air to spin clockwise around a high pressure and anti-clockwise around a low pressure. The winds spin in the opposite direction in the southern hemisphere and these rotations are mirrored by the ocean currents. The coriolis effect is also responsible for bending any wind (or pressure system) in the northern hemisphere to the right of its direction of travel. This right turn will be regardless of which way it is flowing between the Equator and the poles and will be a left arc for winds south of the Equator. This produces the NE and SE trade winds that blow towards the Equator from each hemisphere and also angles the mid-latitude westerlies from the NW and SW respectively. Besides these two dominant bands of circulating winds, there are polar cells at the extremities of the planet and doldrums directly over the Equator.
A low pressure or depression will strengthen when a warm air mass collides with it and slides over the top, lowering the barometric pressure and creating instability which makes the air spin faster. These mid-latitude systems become more energetic in the winter when the temperature difference between the Equator and the poles increases. A primary influence on the west to east movements of these weather systems is the flow of air in the upper atmosphere called the jet stream. The jet stream moves at much higher speeds than the surface air and dictates the speed, intensity and trajectory of surface weather systems. A jet which takes a polar heading will create surface low pressures that deepen, while a jet leading towards the Equator will cause the low to fill and fizzle out.
The most violent of all low pressures are formed over warm, tropical oceans when huge differences in temperature get a storm spinning extremely fast. Massive amounts of water vapour are drawn up into the vortex of these destructive tropical storms that are known by different names around the world. Hurricane is used in the Atlantic and north-eastern Pacific, Typhoon is the word for the north-western Pacific and Cyclone is favoured in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean .
Land and sea breezes are a small scale version of the global convection currents governed by heat. During the day, the land quickly heats up and hot air starts rising. This brings in cool air from the sea in the form of the afternoon onshore sea breeze. At night when the land cools, the flow is reversed and the offshores blow. These are the forces that drive the monsoon, which is basically a powerful land or sea breeze depending on the season.
| There are 3 types of winds: |
Westerlies
Blow in the mid-latitudes (30° to 60°) and produce the ground swells. The rotation of the Earth causes them to blow more NW in the northern hemisphere and more SW in the southern hemisphere. |
East Trades
Blow in the sub-tropical latitudes (5° to 30°) and produce constant small windswell. They tend to blow more NE in the northern hemisphere and more SE in the southern hemisphere |
Doldrums
Areas of light winds in the equatorial belt (5°N to 5°S). Occasional squalls may produce a rare small swell |
Above are the general wind directions during winter in the Northern Hemiphere.
|
And if you want additional information, read below, this was borrowed from the Malaysian meteorological web site.
Monsoon : The weather in Malaysia is characterised by two monsoon regimes, namely, the Southwest Monsoon from late May to September, and the Northeast Monsoon from November to March. The Northeast Monsoon brings heavy rainfall, particularly to the east coast states of Peninsular Malaysia and western Sarawak , whereas the Southwest Monsoon normally signifies relatively drier weather. The transition period in between the monsoons is known as the intermonsoon period.
What is Monsoon : The word "monsoon" is derived from the Arabic word "mausim" which means season. Ancient traders plying in the Indian Ocean and adjoining Arabian Sea used it to describe a system of alternating winds which blow persistently from the northeast during the northern winter and from the opposite direction, the southwest, during the northern summer.
What causes Monsoon : Monsoon is caused by land-sea temperature differences due to heating by the sun's radiation. In winter, the continental landmass cools rapidly resulting in extremely low temperatures over central Asia . As temperature drops, atmospheric pressure rises and an intense high pressure system (anticyclone) develops over Siberia . Cold air flows out of Siberia as northwesterlies and turns into northeasterlies on reaching the coastal waters of China before heading towards Southeast Asia .
In summer, intense solar heating leads to scorching temperatures over the Asian landmass. As hot air expands and rises upwards, a semi-permanent low-pressure area develops. Moist southeasterlies originating from the southern Indian Ocean and the Indonesian-Australian region transforms into southwesterlies on crossing the equator and flow across Southeast Asia before converging towards Indochina , China and Northwest Pacific. |
