The cooler weather that hit Cambodia in the past week is over for now but likely to restart in late November or early December, according to the Water Resources Ministry.
The southern half of the country will be rainy today and tomorrow and northern winds will blow on the coastal areas, but temperatures will climb to be warmer than the lows seen last week, said Seth Vannareth, director of the ministry’s meteorology department.
“The cold weather in the north, I think if you compare with European or other countries, the temperature is…not so cold, but in Cambodia, because we are in a tropical area, if the temperature is around 20 or 22 degree Celsius, it’s a minimum,” she said by telephone Sunday. “But now with 16-degree minimum[s] to 20[-degree lows], it’s cold for Cambodia.”
Temperatures dropped to about 16 degrees in the north and 20 in the south over the weekend, she said, but conditions for warmer weather are in the offing. Cold weather would return in late November or early December for a week or two, and possibly during other short stints through the dry season.
Northern winds were also blowing at 6 to 10 meters per second, according to a Friday statement from the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology that was warning of rain and lightning risks this past weekend in southern provinces.
Cold weather descended on the northern provinces last week.
“We got cold weather [around 10 or 11 degrees Celsius] since Nov 11. This weather covered Preah Vihear province, including Preah Vihear temple, and people and troops got colds or fever,” said Preah Vihear Provincial Governor Preap Tann.
Ratanakkiri Deputy Provincial Governor Chey Sayeun said lows of about 18 degrees Celsius had made some children ill in the province but it was not a serious problem. Similar temperatures also registered in Mondolkiri as cold wind began blowing from the north, said Provincial Governor Lay Sokha, adding that this sort of weather was nothing unusual for this time of year.
