Weather locations in Bangladesh

Bangladesh sits low on the delta where the Ganges and Brahmaputra meet the Bay of Bengal, so the sea governs its weather all year. The tropical monsoon brings a long wet season, a short dry winter and some of the highest rainfall totals in the world in the north-east. Humidity is oppressive for months, and the Bay of Bengal makes the coast unusually exposed to violent storms.

Main climate types

Almost the whole country is classed as tropical wet, with a short dry season in the north-east rather than a true desert edge. The south-west, around Khulna, and the eastern hills along the Assam border mark the wetter margins. Three seasons are conventionally recognised: a cool dry winter from November to March, a hot pre-monsoon spell in April and May, and the long monsoon from June to September.

Temperatures

Dhaka averages about 20 °C in January and rises to around 30 °C by May; even at night the coldest month rarely drops below 10 °C. Seasonal swings are modest and the country never becomes genuinely cold. Elevation helps: in the hill districts of the north-east, sitting above 200 metres, nights in December and January are typically several degrees cooler than in the capital. The maximum is usually reached in April, most often in the dry north-west.

Rainfall

Annual totals run from about 1,500 mm over much of the delta to more than 3,000 mm in the north-east, where Sylhet lies on the rain-bearing flank of the Assam hills. May and June are the wettest months almost everywhere, and the Bay of Bengal coast can receive over 300 mm in a single week. The winter months are dry, though on the eastern flank a second, smaller peak sometimes appears in October.

When to go

November to February is the most comfortable period, with warm days, low humidity and clear skies over the rivers. The monsoon months are hot, very wet and often disruptive to transport; the delta's roads and ferries are most affected from July onward. Storm season, in April and May and again in September and October, brings the country's most dramatic weather. Visitors who want the landscape at its lushest can go in June or July, provided they can accept the rain.