December is the winter in the North of Vietnam, rainy and cold season in the Central Coast, the dry season in the Central Highlands and South of Vietnam.
The cold Northeasterly Monsoon is often strong in the North at this time of the year; the monsoon causes long-lasting rains and cold weather in the Central Coast, rough sea from the North to Ca Mau. It is normally dry in the North in December; though not often, there may be rains each time there is a new spell of the Northeasterly Monsoon. The humidity in the North is normally low between 40-60%. There may be snow or frost in the far-northern mountains of Vietnam.
In the Central Region, December is the rainy season with more often daily torrential and incessant rains. It is really cold here during this month and especially when it rains. There may still be typhoons in the Central Region which may cause floods and landslides and halt of road and rail traffic; but the strong and cold Northeasterly Monsoon often helps to push tropical depressions/typhoons southwards that the chances that they influence the inland are small.
December is the start of the dry season in the Central Highlands and South of Vietnam. It may rain in the Central Highlands if there is a tropical depression but more likely it is dry all over the region as well as in South Vietnam. The temperatures are lovely at this time of the year in these two regions: mild sunshine and pleasant temperatures.
Below is our statistics of Vietnam weather in December 2019.
1/ North of Vietnam
In the first week of 2019, there were a renewed spells of cold Northeasterly Monsoon which made the temperatures in the North cold all over. But mostly there was sunshine in the North that made it a nice time to travel in this region. Those who traveled far in the northern mountains had to have a lot of warm clothes.
- Northeast of Vietnam (Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen): clouds and rains for two days when the monsoon first swept in but then it was bright sunshine all over, very cold with frost in the far-northern mountains, 2-20oC. Dong Van Plateau was mostly sunny, -1-12oC.
- Northwest of Vietnam:
+ Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Lao Cai: clouds and isolated rains for two days then the sun came out for the whole week, dry and cold air, 5-23oC. Sapa had clouds and rains for a couple of days, sun mostly, -1-10oC. Mu Cang Chai was mostly sunny, 0-13oC. Mai Chau had sun mostly, 5-20oC.
+ Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau: sun mostly, some clouds, 1-23oC. Moc Chau had sun, 2-11oC.
- Lowlands (Halong Bay, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh): some rains on a day, sun mostly, 8-22oC in Halong Bay and Hai Phong, 8-23oC in Hanoi and the Red River Delta.
The second week of December 2019 marked one of the periods with the lowest temperatures in 2019 by far in northern Vietnam. Still there was bright sunshine in the whole region which made it a great time to travel in the North of Vietnam, especially good for adventure tours: trekking, hiking, biking and mountain climbing.
- Northeast of Vietnam (Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen): had sun mostly, 3-25oC. Dong Van Plateau was mostly sunny, 1-15oC.
- Northwest of Vietnam:
+ Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Lao Cai: sun and cold, 6-25oC. Sapa had sun, 0-17oC. Mu Cang Chai was mostly sunny, 4-20oC. Mai Chau had sun mostly, 6-25oC.
+ Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau: sun mostly,1-27oC. Moc Chau had sun, 3-18oC.
- Lowlands (Halong Bay, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh): some rains on a day, sun mostly, 9-24oC in Halong Bay and Hai Phong, 8-25oC in Hanoi and the Red River Delta.
The third week of December 2019 was marked by a new spell of Northeasterly Monsoon hitting the North of Vietnam causing some light rains and damp air.
- Northeast of Vietnam (Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen): had sun and clouds mostly before the monsoon came; clouds and rains when and after the monsoon came; 15-27oC before the monsoon, 11-22oC. Dong Van Plateau was some sun, mostly clouds and rains, 10-19oC.
- Northwest of Vietnam:
+ Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Lao Cai: sun, clouds, rains, 15-29oC before the monsoon, 14-20oC during the monsoon. Sapa had sun, clouds, rains, 10-20oC before the monsoon, 9-15oC during the monsoon. Mu Cang Chai was mostly sunny before the monsoon, clouds and rains after that, 10-25oC. Mai Chau had sun mostly before the monsoon; clouds and some rains after that, 18-29oC before the monsoon, 16-21oC after that.
+ Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau: sun mostly before the monsoon; some sun, clouds and some rains after that; 12-30oC. Moc Chau had sun and clouds mostly, some isolated rains, 13-21oC.
- Lowlands (Halong Bay, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh): had sun before the monsoon; clouds, rains and damp air during the monsoon; 19-26oC and 16-19oC respectively before and after the monsoon came in Halong Bay and Hai Phong; 20-28oC and 15-20oC before and after the monsoon in Hanoi and the Red River Delta.
The fourth week of December 2019 marked two successive spells of cold Northeasterly Monsoon which made the temperatures drop in the North and Central Coast of Vietnam and which caused rains in these regions.
- Northeast of Vietnam (Lang Son, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Ha Giang, Thai Nguyen): had little sun, clouds mostly, some light rains, mostly 13-24oC. Dong Van Plateau had sun, mostly clouds, isolated rains, 6-16oC.
- Northwest of Vietnam:
+ Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, Lao Cai: sun and clouds mostly, isolated rains, 11-26oC. Sapa had sun, clouds, rains, 7-19oC. Mu Cang Chai had some sun, clouds, rains, 10-23oC. Mai Chau had sun, clouds, some rains, 12-27oC.
+ Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau: had sun, mostly clouds, some rains, 11-30oC. Moc Chau had sun and clouds mostly, some isolated rains, 9-21oC.
- Lowlands (Halong Bay, Hai Phong, Hanoi, Thai Binh, Ninh Binh): had some sun, mostly clouds, isolated rains, 12-26oC in Halong Bay and Hai Phong, 13-27oC in Hanoi and the Red River Delta.
2/ The North of the Central Region (Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Ha Tinh)
The first week of December was mostly with sun in Thanh Hoa, clouds in the others, 9-23oC
The second week of December 2019 the region had mostly sun, isolated rains in Nghe An and Ha Tinh for a couple of days, 8-24oC.
The third week of December 2019 the region had little sun, clouds and isolated rains, 17-26oC. There region had a new spell of the cold Northeasterly Monsoon at the end of this week causing some rain and drop in temperatures.
The fourth week of December 2019 was with a new spell of cold wind causing rains and drops in temperatures, sun, clouds and rains, 14-28oC.
3/The coastal areas in the Central Region of Vietnam (Central Coast of Vietnam including: Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan)
In the first week of December 2019, the Central Coast of Vietnam had mixed weather: sun, clouds and rains. This was fairly nice as it was the rainy season at this time.
- Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue: some sun, but mostly clouds and rains, 15-25oC.
- Da Nang, Hoi An: clouds mostly, some sun and isolated rains, 17-26oC.
- Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen: little sun, mostly clouds and rains, 16-27oC.
- Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan: mostly sun and clouds, isolated rains in Nha Trang and Phan Rang for a couple of days, 18-31oC.
In the second week of December, the Central Coast had some sun, mostly clouds and rains, mostly sun in the South of the Central Coast (Nha Trang, Phan Rang, Phan Thiet).
- Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue: some sun, but mostly clouds and rains, 15-26oC.
- Da Nang, Hoi An: little sun, mostly clouds and rains, 16-28oC.
- Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen: little sun, mostly clouds and rains, 16-27oC.
- Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan: mostly sun and clouds, isolated rains in Nha Trang on a day, 18-31oC.
Third week of December seemed to mark the end of the rainy season as there were mostly sun and clouds, some few rains.
- Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue: mostly sun, clouds, isolated rains, 20-28oC.
- Da Nang, Hoi An: sun, clouds, rains, 20-28oC.
- Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen: most sun, clouds, some isolated rains, 21-30oC.
- Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan: mostly sun and clouds, isolated rains in Nha Trang on a day, 20-32oC.
The fourth week of December was with influence of a new spell of cold wind at the end of the month causing rains.
- Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Hue: little sun, clouds, isolated rains, 18-29oC.
- Da Nang, Hoi An: sun, clouds, rains, 19-29oC.
- Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen: most sun, clouds, some isolated rains, 17-30oC.
- Khanh Hoa, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan: sun and clouds, 20-33oC.
4/ The Central Highlands of Vietnam (Kon Tum, Gia Lai - Pleiku, Dak Lak - Buon Ma Thuot, Lam Dong)
December is start of the dry season and it was lovely with sun and pleasant temperatures in December 2019.
In the first week was mostly with sun, lovely temperatures, 12-27oC. Da Lat had sun every day, 10-21oC.
The second week the region had mostly sun, clouds, 12-28oC. Da Lat has sun, clouds, 9-24oC.
Third week was with sun and clouds, typical of the dry season, 15-31oC. Da Lat has sun and clouds mostly, some isolated rains on two days, 11-25.
The fourth week was with sun and clouds, typical of the dry season, 14-32oC. Da Lat has sun and clouds mostly, some isolated rains on two days, 11-26oC.
5/The South of Vietnam (Ho Chi Minh City, Tay Ninh, Vung Tau, Dong Nai, and the Mekong Delta)
December is the beginning of the dry season in southern Vietnam with mostly sun, clouds and pleasant temperatures.
In the first week of December 2019, the South of Vietnam had some cool days with temperatures reaching as low as 18-19oC.
- Vung Tau, Saigon, Mekong Delta had sun and clouds, 20-31oC in Vung Tau, 19-32oC
- Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc: clouds and sun mostly, afternoon rains daily, 18-31oC.
- Con Dao Islands had little sun, clouds, strong winds, rough sea, 24-26oC.
- Phu Quoc Island had sun, clouds, 22-31oC.
In the second week of December 2019, the South of Vietnam had mostly sun and clouds, lovely temperatures, great for vacations.
- Vung Tau, Saigon, Mekong Delta had sun mostly, clouds, 23-29oC in Vung Tau, 18-34oC in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
- Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc: sun mostly, clouds, 18-33oC.
- Con Dao Islands had sun, clouds, strong winds, rough sea, 22-26oC.
- Phu Quoc Island had sun, clouds, 22-31oC.
Third week was with sun and clouds mostly, lovely dry season.
- Vung Tau, Saigon, Mekong Delta had sun mostly, clouds, isolated showers on a day, 25-29oC in Vung Tau, 22-34oC in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
- Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc: sun mostly, clouds, 2134oC.
- Con Dao Islands had sun, clouds, strong winds, rough sea, 24-29C.
- Phu Quoc Island had sun, clouds, isolated showers on a day, 25-31oC.
The fourth week was mostly with sun and clouds.
- Vung Tau, Saigon, Mekong Delta had sun mostly, clouds, isolated showers on some days in the south of the Mekong Delta, 22-34oC in Vung Tau, 22-34oC in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.
- Dong Nai, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc: sun, clouds, 21-34oC.
- Con Dao Islands had sun, clouds, strong winds, rough sea, 24-28C.
- Phu Quoc Island had sun, clouds, isolated showers on a day, 23-31oC.
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