Northeast monsoon in Vietnam and Thailand

Fall is the time in which the Northeast Monsoon returns to South and Southeast Asia following a summer hiatus. Onset of prevailing northeasterly winds is often marked by extreme cloudbursts wherever such wind would blow, at once, from water to land and up slope. Such a setting can be found in Vietnam as well as the eastern Malay Peninsula, which is shared by Thailand and Malaysia. This week, the Thailand share of the Peninsula has been hammered by inundating outbursts of rain. One hard-hit town is Hakhon Si Thammarat, where the aggregate of rainfall since Sunday was 21.8 inches (55 cms) as of Thursday night, local time. Still high, but less extreme, was the fall of 11.2 inches (28 cms) on the island of Ko Samui. The 21.8 inches of rain almost exactly matches the normal monthly rainfall for Nakhon Si Thammarat.