The climate of Bangladesh is tropical, with a pleasantly warm and sunny winter from November to February, a short hot spring between March and May, and a long rainy season from June to October, due to the summer monsoon. The country is flat and occupied by the huge Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, and is therefore exposed to floods, as well as to storm surges when cyclones hit the Bay of Bengal.

The dry season runs from November to March. The monsoon has left the country during the month of October, but sometimes the rains can last until November, especially in the south-east, or when a cyclone arrives. In general, however, November is hot, but not too much, with highs around 30 °C (86 °F), and sunny.
The winter proper begins in December, and is characterized by warm and sunny days, followed by cool nights. In the far north, in cities like Saidpur and Rangpur, in January, the coldest month, lows are around 11 °C (52 °F), and highs around 23 °C (73 °F).
Here are the average temperatures of Saidpur.
Average temperatures - Saidpur

Saidpur	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Saidpur	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	11	13	17	21	24	25	26	26	25	23	18	13
Max (°C)	23	26	31	33	32	32	32	32	31	31	29	25
Min (°F)	52	55	63	70	75	77	79	79	77	73	64	55
Max (°F)	73	79	88	91	90	90	90	90	88	88	84	77

In the central area, which includes the capital Dhaka, temperatures are higher, around 13 °C (55 °F) at night, and 25 °C (77 °F) during the day.
Average temperatures - Dhaka

Dhaka	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Dhaka	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Min (°C)	13	16	20	24	25	26	26	26	26	24	19	14
Max (°C)	25	28	32	34	33	32	31	32	32	32	30	26
Min (°F)	55	61	68	75	77	79	79	79	79	75	66	57
Max (°F)	77	82	90	93	91	90	88	90	90	90	86	79

Along the southern coast, night temperatures are slightly higher, because of the influence of the sea.
During winter, from December to February, sometimes the north wind can bring cold temperatures at night, around 3/6 °C (37/43 °F) in the north, and around 10 °C (50 °F) in the centre-south and in Dhaka.
In February the temperature begins to rise, and from March it begins to get really hot. Spring, from March to May, is actually the hottest season: the average maximum temperatures reach 35 °C (95 °F) in April in inland areas, while they don't go above 32/33 °C (90/91 °F) along the coast, where the hottest month, for the natural thermal inertia of the ocean, is May. The highest peaks are about 42/43 °C (108/109 °F) in the north, 40 °C (104 °F) in Dhaka and in the centre, and 37/38 °C (99/100 °F) in the south. Relative humidity gradually increases, and the heat becomes more stifling. In this season, lines of thunderstorms coming from the Himalayas, called northwesters, bring rain accompanied with hail and wind gusts, so that in May more than 250 millimetres (10 inches) of rain fall in the south and 150 mm (6 in) in the north.



The real monsoon arrives from late May to early June, starting from the south-east. It brings a more compact cloudiness, high humidity even during the day, frequent rains, but also a decrease in temperature, which drops to 30/32 °C (86/90 °F) during the day, but remains high at night, about 25 °C (77 °F). The rains are more abundant along the south coast, particularly the south-east (see Chittagong, Cox's Bazar), but also in the north-east, close to the mountains of India (see Sylhet). In Sylhet, in July rainfall amounts to 800 mm (31.5 in), in Chittagong to 750 mm (29.5 in), in Cox's Bazar to 900 mm (35.5 in), and in Teknaf to even 1,000 mm (40 in).
The monsoon is felt less in the west, where the annual rainfall is around 1,500/1,600 mm (60/63 in), with a maximum in July of about 300/350 mm (12/13.5 in), as happens for example in Pabna, Jessore and Rajshahi. In Dhaka, precipitation amounts to 2,100 mm (83 in) per year, of which 370 mm (14.5 in) in July. Here is the average precipitation in Dhaka.
Average precipitation - Dhaka

Dhaka	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Dhaka	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	7	25	65	155	340	335	375	315	315	175	35	15	2155
Prec.(in)	0.3	1	2.6	6.1	13.4	13.2	14.8	12.4	12.4	6.9	1.4	0.6	84.8
Days	1	3	3	8	15	18	21	21	16	8	1	0	115

In Chittagong, on the east coast, the rains reach 2,900 mm (115 in) per year. Here is the average precipitation.
Average precipitation - Chittagong

Chittagong	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Chittagong	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D	Y
Prec. (mm)	5	25	55	140	305	600	735	540	265	190	70	15	2940
Prec.(in)	0.2	1	2.2	5.5	12	23.6	28.9	21.3	10.4	7.5	2.8	0.6	115.7
Days	0	2	3	7	12	18	22	20	16	9	3	0	112

More to the south, rainfall reaches 3,500 mm (138 in) per year in Cox's Bazar, and up to 4,000 mm (157 in) in the more southern city of Teknaf. In Sylhet, in the northeast, where as we said the other very rainy area is found, they reach 4,000 mm (157 in) per year.
The monsoon gradually withdraws between October and November.

The sun in Bangladesh shines regularly in the dry season, while in the monsoon season, from June to September, it is rarely seen. Here are the average daily sunshine hours in Dhaka.
Sunshine - Dhaka

Dhaka	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Dhaka	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sun (hours)	9	8	7	6	5	3	2	2	3	6	8	9

The sea is warm enough for swimming all year round, although the water temperature drops to 24 °C (75 °F) in winter, as we can see in the following table.
Sea temperature - Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Cox's Bazar	J	F	M	A	M	J	J	A	S	O	N	D
Sea (°C)	24	24	26	28	29	30	29	29	29	29	28	25
Sea (°F)	75	75	79	82	84	86	84	84	84	84	82	77

Bangladesh is particularly vulnerable to tropical cyclones, which come from the Bay of Bengal, usually from mid-April to early December. In general, they are most intense both at the beginning and the end of the period, that is, in May-June and October-November. The most destructive cyclone on record occurred in October-November 1876, in November 1970, and in late April 1991.


The best time to visit Bangladesh is winter, between mid-December and February. Typically in November and in the first half of December the weather is good, and it's hot but not too much, but we cannot exclude some later cloud banks, or even some cyclones. In March and April it gets hot, and thunderstorms in the afternoon or evening, sometimes intense, are possible.


In winter: spring/autumn clothes, light for the day, a jacket and a sweater for the evening, possibly hat and scarf for cooler evenings in the north (see Rangpur and Saidpur).
In summer: tropics-friendly, lightweight clothing of natural fibres, light raincoat or umbrella (the latter not always effective against the monsoon rains).