Rainy Season in Vietnam: Month by Month
Quick answer: Vietnam is long enough to have two rainy seasons that do not overlap, and this page covers one of them. In Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi the rain runs May–Oct: the south peaks in October at 230 mm (9.1 in), against 7 mm (0.3 in) in February, and Hanoi in August at 336 mm (13.2 in). Central Vietnam — Hue, Da Nang, Hoi An — is the exception: its wettest months are September to December, when the two ends of the country are drying out.
Pick a destination to see its weather month by month and the best time to go, or pick a month to see where the weather is at its best.
Tokyo · a city trip
Good: Mar–May, Oct–DecNo month is ideal for a city trip by our rule, but these come close.
- Warmest
- Aug · 89°F
- Coolest
- Jan · 49°F
- Wettest
- Jul · 16 rain days
- Averages for 2006–2025: any single year can be hotter, colder or wetter.
Weather from NASA POWER daily data, 2006–2025, for the ~50 km area around each place. Right on the coast, afternoons can be a few degrees warmer than shown.
| Month | High / low (°F) | Rain days | Rain (in) | Storms within 100 mi | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 49° / 34° | 5 | 2.4 | Off (too cold) | |
| Feb | 51° / 35° | 7 | 3.1 | Off (too cold) | |
| Mar | 57° / 40° | 12 | 5.1 | Good (cool, showery) | |
| Apr | 65° / 48° | 12 | 6 | Good (showery) | |
| May | 73° / 58° | 13 | 6.6 | Good (showery) | |
| Jun | 79° / 65° | 16 | 8.1 | Off (too wet) | |
| Jul | 86° / 73° | 16 | 6.5 | Off (too wet) | |
| Aug | 89° / 75° | 15 | 5.4 | Off (too hot) | |
| Sep | 82° / 70° | 16 | 8.7 | Off (too wet) | |
| Oct | 72° / 59° | 14 | 8.9 | Good (showery) | |
| Nov | 63° / 48° | 11 | 4.4 | Good (showery) | |
| Dec | 54° / 39° | 7 | 3.2 | Good (cool) |
The tool above opens on Ho Chi Minh City: change the place or the month to yours, or compare Hanoi. Below, Vietnam month by month — rain, rain days and how warm it is.
Vietnam month by month
Average rainfall and the number of days with at least 1 mm of rain, 2006–2025. On this page a month counts as wet when it gets more rain than an average month in that place (more than a twelfth of its year), and dry when it gets less than half an average month. The months in between are the shoulder.
| Month | Ho Chi Minh City | Hanoi | Ho Chi Minh City: rain |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 2 days — dry | 5 days — dry | 11 mm (0.4 in) |
| February | 1 days — dry | 6 days — dry | 7 mm (0.3 in) |
| March | 3 days — dry | 10 days — dry | 17 mm (0.7 in) |
| April | 7 days — dry | 12 days — shoulder | 50 mm (2.0 in) |
| May | 19 days — wet | 19 days — wet | 158 mm (6.2 in) |
| June | 23 days — wet | 22 days — wet | 221 mm (8.7 in) |
| July | 25 days — wet | 24 days — wet | 227 mm (8.9 in) |
| August | 23 days — wet | 24 days — wet | 194 mm (7.6 in) |
| September | 25 days — wet | 20 days — wet | 205 mm (8.1 in) |
| October | 24 days — wet | 13 days — wet | 230 mm (9.1 in) |
| November | 16 days — shoulder | 7 days — dry | 109 mm (4.3 in) |
| December | 6 days — dry | 4 days — dry | 36 mm (1.4 in) |
Ho Chi Minh City is wet in May–Oct, shoulder in Nov and dry in Dec–Apr. Hanoi is wet in May–Oct, shoulder in Apr and dry in Nov–Mar.
The two ends are not the same weather even when they are wet at the same time. Hanoi’s rain is hot and heavy — 24 rain days in August under 88°F / 31°C — and its dry months are genuinely cool, 69°F / 21°C in January. Ho Chi Minh City has no cool month at all: April, in the middle of its dry season, averages 100°F / 38°C.
The wettest and driest months
Ho Chi Minh City: wettest in October (230 mm (9.1 in), 24 rain days), driest in February (7 mm (0.3 in), 1 rain day). Hanoi: wettest in August (336 mm (13.2 in), 24 rain days), driest in December (21 mm (0.8 in), 4 rain days). Over the year, Ho Chi Minh City gets 1465 mm (57.7 in).
The best months to go
Ho Chi Minh City: Dec · Hanoi: Nov–Feb. When to Go rates every month on temperature, rain days and storms — open Ho Chi Minh City in the tool above and step through the year.
Plan it
- Vietnam from north to south: a first-timer’s guide
- Ho Chi Minh City’s weather, month by month
- Where to travel this month
FAQ
When is the rainy season in Vietnam?
May–Oct — the months that get more rain than an average month in Ho Chi Minh City. October is the wettest, at 230 mm (9.1 in) across 24 rain days, against 7 mm (0.3 in) in February (NASA POWER, 2006–2025).
Does it rain all day in the rainy season in Vietnam?
The measure here is a day with at least 1 mm of rain, not a day of rain. In October, Ho Chi Minh City averages 24 rain days out of 31, with an average high of 86°F / 30°C.
What is the driest month in Vietnam?
February, at 7 mm (0.3 in) across 1 rain day. The dry months, by the rule this page uses, are Dec–Apr.
When is the best time to visit Vietnam?
When to Go rates Dec the best months for Ho Chi Minh City, on temperature, rain days and — where it applies — storms. The other places on this page have their own; open the tool above on each.
Is there a month that is dry everywhere in Vietnam?
February and March come closest for the north and south: Ho Chi Minh City averages 7 mm (0.3 in) in February and Hanoi 31 mm (1.2 in). Central Vietnam is drier still by then, having had its rain in the autumn — but it is also the coolest and cloudiest stretch of its year.
How these numbers are made
Daily rainfall and temperature from NASA POWER (MERRA-2), averaged over 2006–2025; a rain day is a day with at least 1 mm. POWER works on a grid of about 50 km, so each place here is its neighbourhood rather than its own rain gauge: a coast, a small island or a valley under a mountain can differ from the square it sits in. The months are the part that holds; treat a single millimetre figure as an average, not a forecast.