Climatology
This page presents Bangladesh's climate context for the current climatology, 1991-2020, derived from observed, historical data. Information should be used to build a strong understanding of current climate conditions in order to appreciate future climate scenarios and projected change. You can visualize data for the current climatology through spatial variation, the seasonal cycle, or as a time series. Analysis is available for both annual and seasonal data. Data presentation defaults to national-scale aggregation, however sub-national data aggregations can be accessed by clicking within a country, on a sub-national unit. Other historical climatologies can be selected from the Time Period dropdown list.
Observed, historical data is produced by the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia. Data is presented at a 0.5º x 0.5º (50km x 50km) resolution.
Bangladesh has a humid, warm climate influenced by pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon circulations and frequently experiences heavy precipitation and tropical cyclones. Bangladesh’s historical climate has experienced average temperatures around 26⁰C, but range between 15⁰C and 34⁰C throughout the year. The warmest months coincide with the rainy season (April-September), while the winter season (December-February) is colder and drier. Bangladesh is a very wet country, receiving on average about 2,200 millimeters (mm) of rainfall per year. Most regions receive at least 1,500 mm and others, such as in the northeastern border regions, receive as much as 5,000 mm of rainfall per year. Humidity remains high throughout the year, peaking during the monsoon season (June to October). Rainfall is driven by the Southwest monsoon, which originates over the Indian Ocean and carries warm, moist, and unstable air. Typically, a tropical cyclone (of strength classification Tropical Storm or above) will make landfall in Bangladesh once in every two to three years bringing heavy rainfall, very high wind speeds, and storm surges.