Climate and average weather in Nong Khiaw

In Nong Khiaw, the summers are humid, hot, showery, and mostly clear and the winters are warm and mostly clear.

Best: early November to late February

Over the course of the year, the temperature in Nong Khiaw typically varies from 13°C to 32°C, and is rarely below 9°C or above 36°C. April is the hottest month of the year, while December is the coldest.

Based on the travel score, the best time of year to visit Nong Khiaw for warm-weather activities is from early November to late February.

Hottest
Apr
32°
Coldest
Dec
13°
Wettest
Aug
299 mm
Driest
Feb
10 mm
Rain / yr
1335 mm
150 wet days
Daylight
10.8–13.2 h
shortest–longest
Elevation
0 m
20.6°N
Clearest
Feb
34% cloud

Nong Khiaw weather by month, at a glance

The whole year in one picture — sky, rain, humidity, temperature and travel score. Click any band to jump to its full chart.

Each stripe is one measure across the whole year, stacked so a single day reads top to bottom. The sky band runs overcast grey on top down to clear blue at the base — more blue means sunnier — followed by the rainfall curve, the humidity band, a temperature strip that tints each stretch of the year by how warm its average high is, and the travel-score line at the foot. Scan straight down any date to read that day across every measure at once; the score climbs highest around early November to late February.

Temperature through the year

Average highAverage lowShaded bands: 10–90% of days

Daily average highs and lows in Nong Khiaw, from 1991–2020 of climate data. The shaded bands show the range most days fall in — 10th to 90th percentile.

Temperatures in Nong Khiaw stay fairly even through the year, without a distinct hot or cool season. The warmest month is April, with an average high of 32°C and low of 20°C; the coolest is December, with an average low of 13°C and high of 25°C.

Days typically run about 10°C warmer than nights, with the widest day–night swing (around 14°C) in February.

10°20°30°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Avg high (°C)Avg low (°C)
Jan2513
Feb2814
Mar3117
Apr3220
May3223
Jun3124
Jul3024
Aug3023
Sep3022
Oct2920
Nov2717
Dec2513

How hot and cold Nong Khiaw really feels

Feels-like highFeels-like lowactual air temp

The felt-temperature range through the year — heat index on the day's high (summer humidity), wind chill on the night's low (winter wind). The dashed lines are the plain thermometer; the gap is how much hotter or colder it really feels.

On the hottest afternoons, once humidity is folded in, Nong Khiaw feels like about 35°C (around May 30). About 186 days a year carry some heat stress, peaking in May.

10°15°20°25°30°35°40°JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Feels-like high (°C)Air high (°C)Feels-like low (°C)Air low (°C)
Jan25251313
Feb28281414
Mar31311717
Apr34322020
May35322323
Jun35312424
Jul34302424
Aug33302323
Sep33302222
Oct31292020
Nov28271717
Dec25251313

Average hourly temperature in Nong Khiaw

A compact picture of the whole year, hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled average temperature. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

Read left to right for the day of the year and top to bottom for the hour of the day; the color is the modeled temperature, cool blues through to hot reds on the same scale as the other charts. A vertical slice is a single day's swing — coolest just before dawn, warmest in the mid-afternoon — while a horizontal slice follows one hour across the seasons. The darker overlay marks night and the lighter one the twilight around sunrise and sunset. Colors run warmest on April afternoons, near 32°C, and coldest before dawn in December, near 13°C.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM

Nong Khiaw weather by month

Every month at a glance. Click a month for its detailed page.

MonthHigh / Low (°C)Rainfall (mm)Wet daysDaylight (hours)Travel score
Jan25° / 13°192.910.98.2
Feb28° / 14°101.711.37.4
Mar31° / 17°335.911.95.3
Apr32° / 20°8111.412.54.1
May32° / 23°14419133.3
Jun31° / 24°17921.313.23.0
Jul30° / 24°28325.413.13.0
Aug30° / 23°29926.212.73.1
Sep30° / 22°18019.912.13.9
Oct29° / 20°669.811.55.7
Nov27° / 17°233.7117.7
Dec25° / 13°18310.88.3

Chance of rain

How likely it is to rain on a typical day, and how that shifts across the wetter and drier seasons.

Nong Khiaw gets about 1335 mm of precipitation a year. On a typical day the chance of rain is often wet, but that rises and falls sharply with the seasons.

The wetter season lasts 5.5 months, from around Apr 23 to Oct 6, peaking in August at about 88% chance on a given day. The drier stretch runs the rest of the year, bottoming out around Feb 13.

August is the wettest month by volume, with 299 mm over about 26 wet days; February is the driest, with 10 mm.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdrierwetterdriermostly drysome rainoften wetvery wetAug 3 · 88%Feb 13 · 6%
Rain on a day (%)Rain days
Jan93
Feb72
Mar196
Apr3811
May6119
Jun7121
Jul8225
Aug8426
Sep6520
Oct3210
Nov134
Dec103

Monthly rainfall

Over a full year, Nong Khiaw collects about 1335 mm of rain across 150 wet days — roughly 111 mm in an average month.

It doesn’t fall evenly. August is the wettest month with 299 mm, while February is the driest at just 10 mm. The three wettest months alone bring about 57% of the year’s total.

050100150200250300350JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec19103381144179283299180662318
Rainfall (mm)Rain days
Jan193
Feb102
Mar336
Apr8111
May14419
Jun17921
Jul28325
Aug29926
Sep18020
Oct6610
Nov234
Dec183

Clouds and sunshine

ClearMostly clearPartly cloudyMostly cloudyOvercast

How often the daytime sky is clear, partly cloudy or overcast.

In Nong Khiaw, the average share of the sky covered by clouds shows significant seasonal variation over the course of the year.

The clearer part of the year begins around October 5 and lasts for 7.0 months, ending around May 5. The clearest month is February, when the sky is clear, mostly clear, or partly cloudy 80% of the time on average.

The cloudier part of the year begins around May 6 and lasts for 5.0 months, ending around October 4. The cloudiest month is July, when it is overcast or mostly cloudy 92% of the time.

0%100%10%90%20%80%30%70%40%60%50%50%60%40%70%30%80%20%90%10%100%0%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecFeb 28 · 84%Jun 22 · 6%clearmostly clearpartly cloudymostly cloudyovercastclearercloudierclearer
Clearer (%)Cloudier (%)
Jan7327
Feb8020
Mar7822
Apr6733
May3367
Jun892
Jul892
Aug1189
Sep2971
Oct5644
Nov6931
Dec7030

Daylight, sunrise and sunset

DaylightNight

Hours of daylight through the year, with sunrise and sunset times.

The gold band is daylight — sunrise runs along its lower edge, sunset along the upper — so it widens toward summer and pinches toward winter, with night the dark area above and below. The longest day, around June 1, brings about 13 h 12 min of light; the shortest, around January 1, only 10 h 48 min — a swing of roughly 2 h 24 min.

12 AM4 AM8 AM12 PM4 PM8 PM12 AMJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Daylight (h)Sunrise (AM)Sunset (PM)
Jan10.96:535:45
Feb11.36:456:03
Mar11.96:246:15
Apr12.55:566:24
May13.05:376:35
Jun13.25:336:47
Jul13.15:416:49
Aug12.75:526:35
Sep12.16:006:07
Oct11.56:095:40
Nov11.06:255:25
Dec10.86:435:28

Sunny days

How many genuinely sunny days each month brings — days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — banded into plain-language zones.

Nong Khiaw averages about 10 sunny days a month — counting the days the sky stays clear or mostly clear — with a clear seasonal swing between 1 and 22 days.

The sunnier stretch runs 6.5 months, from around Oct 13 to Apr 29. The sunniest month is March, with roughly 19 sunny days (bright).

The greyest month is August, down near 1 sunny days — about 95% fewer than the March peak.

0510152025JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecsunniergreyersunniergloomymixedbrightbrilliantMar 322 daysAug 111 days
Sunny daysSky
Jan16Bright
Feb18Bright
Mar20Bright
Apr13Mixed
May5Gloomy
Jun1Gloomy
Jul1Gloomy
Aug1Gloomy
Sep4Gloomy
Oct11Mixed
Nov15Mixed
Dec16Bright

Humidity comfort

DryComfortableHumidMuggyOppressiveMiserable

Share of days at each humidity comfort level, based on the dew point — the measure that tracks how muggy it actually feels.

Humidity comfort is graded by the dew point — the temperature at which the air would be fully saturated — because it tracks how muggy it actually feels far better than relative humidity does. A low dew point feels dry and crisp; a high one feels sticky and oppressive no matter the reading on a humidity gauge.

In Nong Khiaw, how humid it feels changes dramatically over the year.

The more humid part of the year lasts 7.6 months, from around March 21 to November 7. The muggiest month is April, when the air feels humid, muggy or worse about 97% of the time.

The most comfortable stretch runs from around November 8 to March 20, and January is the most comfortable month — the air is dry or comfortable 77% of the time.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecJan 16 · 79%Apr 29 · 0%humidcomfortablemuggyoppressivedrycomfortablehumidcomfortable
Dry (%)Comfortable (%)Humid (%)Muggy (%)Oppressive (%)Miserable (%)
Jan255321200
Feb244627400
Mar726412510
Apr021662190
May00224730
Jun0003961
Jul0001963
Aug0000955
Sep00210844
Oct141237450
Nov720333180
Dec263531800

Wind

Average wind speed through the year, banded into plain-language speed zones so a number reads as 'breezy' or 'calm' without knowing the scale.

This is the average sustained wind speed at the standard 10 metres above open ground — the steady flow a weather station reports, not the sharper gusts that come and go, which can run half again as fast. It's the number that says whether a place is generally breezy or calm.

Wind in Nong Khiaw is steady company: average speeds sit near 4 km/hcalm — in every month of the year, with no meaningful windy or calm season.

0510JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDeccalmJun 21 · 6 km/hSep 8 · 3 km/h
Wind speed (km/h)Feels
Jan4calm
Feb5calm
Mar5calm
Apr5calm
May5calm
Jun5calm
Jul5calm
Aug4calm
Sep3calm
Oct4calm
Nov4calm
Dec4calm

Hazard calendar for Nong Khiaw

In seasonPeak

When the seasonal hazards worth planning around — the rainy season, tropical-cyclone risk and dust haze — are active through the year.

Nong Khiaw's monsoon runs May–September, when most of the year's rain falls.

Monsoon
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec

Best time to visit Nong Khiaw

TravelBeach/poolTemperatureCloudsPrecipitation

To characterize how pleasant the weather is in Nong Khiaw throughout the year, we compute two travel scores — one for general sightseeing, one for beach and pool weather.

Around mid February, Nong Khiaw is still near the tail of its best-weather window — great conditions with the peak-season crowds already thinning.

Inferred from the travel-score curve; month-by-month visitor numbers are a planned addition.

The travel score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 18°C and 28°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Nong Khiaw for general outdoor tourist activities is from early November to late February, with a peak score in the last week of December.

0246810JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timetravel scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationDec 22 · 8.6

The travel score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

Travel score (0–10)Rating
Jan8.2ideal
Feb7.4good
Mar5.3fair
Apr4.1fair
May3.3poor
Jun3.0poor
Jul3.0poor
Aug3.1poor
Sep3.9fair
Oct5.7good
Nov7.6ideal
Dec8.3ideal

The beach/pool score favors clear, rainless days with daytime highs between 24°C and 34°C. Based on this score, the best time of year to visit Nong Khiaw for hot-weather activities is from mid October to late March, with a peak score in the third week of February.

024681012JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecbest timebest timebeach/pool scoretemperaturecloudsprecipitationFeb 20 · 8.7

The beach/pool score (filled area), and its constituents: the temperature score (red line), the cloud cover score (blue line), and the precipitation score (green line).

What to pack for Nong Khiaw, by month

EssentialRecommendedOptional

Month by month, what's worth putting in the bag — from the temperature range, rain chance, sun and wind. Tap a month for a quick packing note.

For a warm-season trip around April (highs near 32°C), the essentials are light clothes, rain gear and sun protection. In the cold season around December (highs near 25°C), pack light clothes.

Light clothing
Warm layer
Winter coat
Rain gear
Sun protection
Windbreaker

In April, Nong Khiaw sees daytime highs around 32°C and nights near 20°C. Pack light clothes. Worth having: rain gear and sun protection. About 11 days see rain.

UV index (midday) in Nong Khiaw by month

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Clear-sky midday UV index through the year, shaded by the WHO exposure levels — how much sun protection each month calls for.

Under clear skies, the midday UV index in Nong Khiaw peaks around June 20 at about 13 (extreme) — sunscreen, a hat and midday shade are essential. It bottoms out near December 18 at about 7 (high).

The index reaches 3 or more — the level where the WHO recommends sun protection — every month of the year.

025710JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecVery highExtremeVery highJun 20UV 13Dec 18UV 7
UV index (midday)Level
Jan8Very high
Feb9Very high
Mar9Very high
Apr9Very high
May11Extreme
Jun14Extreme
Jul13Extreme
Aug13Extreme
Sep11Extreme
Oct10Very high
Nov8Very high
Dec7High

Average hourly UV index in Nong Khiaw

LowModerateHighVery highExtreme

Modeled clear-sky UV for every hour of every day — when in the day sun protection actually matters.

The whole year hour by hour: each column is a day, each row an hour, and the color is the modeled clear-sky UV index — the midday peak scaled down as the sun sits lower in the sky. Darker overlays mark night, lighter ones the civil-twilight hours around sunrise and sunset.

UV falls off far faster than brightness as the sun drops, so even in June the burn window is concentrated in the middle of the day: about 8.5 hours a day reach index 3 (protection recommended), and 6.5 hours reach 6 or more. Mornings and late afternoons stay comparatively gentle year round.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec12 AM2 AM4 AM6 AM8 AM10 AM12 PM2 PM4 PM6 PM8 PM10 PM12 AM
UV ≥ 3 (h/day)UV ≥ 6 (h/day)
Jan63.5
Feb74.5
Mar75
Apr7.55
May86
Jun8.56.5
Jul8.56.5
Aug8.56.5
Sep7.55.5
Oct75
Nov6.53.5
Dec5.52.5

Air quality in Nong Khiaw by month

GoodModeratePoorUnhealthyVery unhealthy

Average fine-particle pollution (PM2.5) through the year — so you can see which months the air is worst, not just the yearly average.

Air quality in Nong Khiaw is worst in April — around 497 µg/m³ PM2.5 (very unhealthy), about 67.1× the cleanest month (September, 7 µg/m³).

Modeled monthly averages (CAMS reanalysis, 2015–2024).

0306090120150180210240270300330360390420450480JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecModerateVery unhealthyGoodApr 14456 µg/m³Sep 127 µg/m³
PM2.5 (µg/m³)Level
Jan13Moderate
Feb29Moderate
Mar231Very unhealthy
Apr497Very unhealthy
May49Poor
Jun9Good
Jul8Good
Aug8Good
Sep7Good
Oct8Good
Nov9Good
Dec10Good
Almanac & agriculture

Growing season

Chance of a frost-free dayFrost-free year round

Nong Khiaw is frost-free year round — even the coldest nights rarely reach freezing, so there is no start or end to the growing season.

0%25%50%75%100%JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecfrost-free year round
Frost-free chance (%)Frost nights
Jan1000
Feb1000
Mar1000
Apr1000
May1000
Jun1000
Jul1000
Aug1000
Sep1000
Oct1000
Nov1000
Dec1000

Growing degree days

Degree days (base 10°C)Frost-free shaded

Growing degree days tally heat above 10°C: each day adds however many degrees its average temperature runs over that threshold, and cold days add nothing. Nong Khiaw banks about 5,133 degree days a year, and the running total — which growers use to time plantings and predict maturity — climbs fastest around June.

02,0004,000JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Growing degree days (°C·days)
Jan278
Feb306
Mar428
Apr479
May529
Jun524
Jul519
Aug505
Sep477
Oct448
Nov358
Dec281

Solar energy

Average daily shortwave solar energy reaching the ground, banded into brightness zones so the number means something at a glance.

Solar energy is how much sunlight actually reaches the ground each day, measured in kilowatt-hours per square metre (kWh/m²) — the combined effect of how long the sun is up, how high it climbs, and how much cloud gets in the way. It's the raw fuel a solar panel has to work with: for scale, 1 kWh/m² a day is dim and wintry, while 7+ is desert-bright.

Nong Khiaw receives about 4.7 kWh/m² a day of solar energy on average — bright — with a clear seasonal swing between 3.9 and 5.8 kWh/m².

The brighter stretch of the year lasts 4.4 months, from around Feb 7 to Jun 21. The brightest month is April, averaging about 5.8 kWh/m² (bright).

The dimmest month is December, down near 3.9 kWh/m² — roughly 32% less than the April peak.

01234567JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecdimmerbrighterdimmerdimmoderatebrightintenseApr 165.8 kWhDec 73.9 kWh
Solar energy (kWh/m²)Level
Jan4.1Bright
Feb4.9Bright
Mar5.6Bright
Apr5.8Bright
May5.3Bright
Jun4.8Bright
Jul4.3Bright
Aug4.2Bright
Sep4.5Bright
Oct4.5Bright
Nov4.2Bright
Dec3.9Moderate

Where is Nong Khiaw?

Nong Khiaw sits at 20.6°N, 102.6°E, 0 m above sea level, in Laos. The nearest listed city is Muang Xay, 67 km away.

Muang XayLuang PrabangDien Bien PhuLuang NamthaMuang PhônsavanThị Trấn Thuận ChâuXam NuaSơn La

Topography around Nong Khiaw

How much the land rises and falls, and what covers it, within 3, 16 and 80 km of Nong Khiaw.

Within 3 km, the terrain around Nong Khiaw has very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,215 m around an average of 609 m above sea level; within 16 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,310 m; within 80 km, very significant variations in elevation — a maximum elevation change of 1,987 m.

The land around Nong Khiaw is covered by trees (81%) within 3 km, trees (86%) within 16 km, and trees (88%) within 80 km.

3 km
1,215 m
16 km
1,310 m
80 km
1,987 m
treesgrasslandcroplandartificial surfaceswater
Nearby: Muang Xay 67 km · Luang Prabang 89 km · Dien Bien Phu 100 km · Luang Namtha 133 km · Muang Phônsavan 139 km · Thị Trấn Thuận Châu 148 km · Xam Nua 150 km · Sơn La 160 km

Laos travel facts

Travel advisory
Level 2
Exercise Increased Caution
Power plugs
Type A / B / C / E / F
230 V · 50 Hz
Prices
≈ 23% of US
price level, 2025
GDP per capita
$2,325
2025
Happiness
5.5 / 10
World Happiness, 2025
Safe drinking water
35%
of population, 2024
Road deaths
17.9
per 100k/yr, 2019
Income group
Lower middle
World Bank
English
Low
EF EPI 461
Religion
Buddhist 65%none 31%other/not stated 2%Christian 2%

Sources: World Bank, US State Department, World Happiness Report, WHO/UNICEF, EF EPI, CIA World Factbook.

Data sources

Temperature, precipitation, cloud, humidity, wind and solar figures are a 1991–2020 climatology for Nong Khiaw (20.5708°, 102.6112°, elevation 0 m), computed from hourly ERA5 reanalysis — contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information. Sun figures are astronomical calculations, not observations. City data © GeoNames, CC BY 4.0. Map outlines from Natural Earth (public domain); interactive map © Google. UV index is derived from CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) clear-sky UV data — contains modified Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service information. Monthly air-quality (PM2.5) seasonality is from the CAMS EAC4 reanalysis (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service), scaled to the WHO annual mean where available. Topography is sampled from the Copernicus DEM GLO-90 elevation model (© ESA/Airbus) and ESA WorldCover 2021 land cover (CC BY 4.0).