The climate of Vietnam is the tropical monsoon climate as the whole country is located in tropical area. It is also located in the southeastern margin of the Asian continent, bordering with the South China Sea, a part of the Pacific; therefore, it is directly affected by the monsoon trade wind, which often exists in area with low latitudes. Thanks to this, Vietnam has four favorable seasons that bring in varied weather suitable for tourism to develop.
There are four major climate zones in Vietnam. They are the Northern climate zone, the Southern climate zone, the Central and South Central climate zone, and the South China Sea Climate zone.
The Northern Climate Zone
This region includes territory in the northern area of Heng Son mountain range. It has a tropical monsoon climate with four seasons: spring, summer, fall and winter with remarkably differences among them. However, this climate zone is typical with its great instability in starting and finishing time of each season and temperature.
The best season in this area is spring lasting from February to end of April. Summer lasts around 6 months from end of April until September. The hottest month is June when temperature may reach 38 or even 40 Celsius degrees. Fall is shortest season, which lasts for only 2 months from September to October. Winter is quite hard not only because low temperature (recorded -4 Celsius degrees) but also because of high humidity and winds.
The Central and South Central Climate Zone
This region includes the territory in the east of Truong Son mountain range stretching from the south of Hoang Son mountain range to Phan Thiet province. This is the transition climate zone between the Northern and the Southern climate zone.
In this climate zone, there are two seasons in a year: the dry and the rainy season. The most important feature of this climate zone is that both the dry and rainy season do not come at the same time as those in the other climate zones. In the summer, when the rainfall in other two zones is at the highest level, it is the most difficult time for this region struggling with drought.
The Southern Climate Zone
This region covers the territory of Highlands and Southern area. The climate of this region is typical tropical monsoon with two seasons: dry and rainy season (from April-May to October-November). Temperatures are high all year round in this region and this is the region with least changes in weather and climate of the country.
Temperature of this region is between 21 and 28 Celsius degrees.