Reading about the weather

The Bangkok Post has a weather report every day, usually on or near page three of the first section. Since the weather in Thailand tends to change very slowly (as compared to colder countries), you will see the same vocabulary day after day. This makes it easy to learn and easy to remember. In fact you can learn to read Thailand's weather in one or two days.

The weather report on this page is from early November, which is an especially good time of year for learning weather vocabulary. At this time the cool season has usually begun in the North, but not in the central region near Bangkok. The South is usually quite rainy, especially on the east coast in places such as Ko Samui and Songkla. Thus, the early November weather report will give you a wide variety of weather vocabulary.

Below is a list of weather-related vocabulary found in this report. Learn this vocabulary and you can understand the Bangkok Post’s weather report almost any day of the year.

minimum the lowest or least possible
maximum the highest or greatest possible
humidity the amount of water vapour in the air
relative the amount of water vapour in the air expressed as a percentage of the total amount
humidity of water vapour that could possibly be present
fog a thick mist, similar to a cloud that has touched the ground
patch (of fog) a small area (of fog)
fair bright and not raining; pleasant
cool cold but not cold enough to require a jacket
shower a short period of light rain or snow
thunder a loud noise that follows a flash of lightning
widespread covering a large area
isolated far away from any others
scattered small and far apart; widely and irregularly separated

The weather report also gives information about the sea and here are the key words:

tide the rise and fall of the sea caused by the pull of the moon
slight small in degree
moderate neither large nor small; towards the middle in degree
rough stormy; not smooth