Malaysians would generally tell you that they’ve gotten the raw end of the stick. The weather is always either hot or humid. There are no changes in season cause there is only one season here, Summer! For the locals, they’ve had enough of hot weather but foreigners tend to like Malaysian weather. The idea of having the sun (minus the sand) everyday can be appealing. To better prepare yourself for a sunny holiday (with a slight chance of showers), SD has delved into the books to furnish you with as much information as possible about the non-changing weather that plagues our nation.
For a truly tropical and exotic experience, Malaysia would be a nice choice. It has a decent balance of city life, lush forests, sandy beaches and all other things natural or otherwise. There are two distinct sections to Malaysia, the Peninsula and East Malaysia. Both offer the same sort of holiday experience with the Peninsula being home to the bigger cities. Weather on both ends are similar as well. The big difference, which would probably matter when choosing a date for a holiday, would be the monsoon season.
Technically, the monsoon season for Peninsula Malaysia is from November to March. This northwest monsoon severely affects the eastern areas of the Peninsula. Heavy rainfall can often lead to flash floods. Travelling to the islands during that time wouldn’t be such a good idea. The southwest monsoon, which hits East Malaysia, spans from late May to September. The southwest monsoon isn’t as devastating as the northwest one so travel to East Malaysia could still be an option if you’re into erratic weather.
When all is well and there is no heavy rainfall, Malaysia experiences a temperature of 30 degrees Celsius with a high humidity. Even when it rains the temperature will likely remain the same, give or take a few notches off the thermometer. The night temperature roughly teeters around 26 degrees Celsius if you’re lucky. Without the scorching heat of the sun it is much cooler and often windier at night. Twilight begins between 7.30pm to 8pm while the sun begins to set at around 6.30pm. Daylight will start to break at about 7am and you will fully incur the wrath of the sun by 8am.
With such static weather, it is easy to dress for the occasion. Less is best and the occasional umbrella or raincoat would shelter you from the rain if necessary. Depending on the purpose of your visit here, travelling light would be advisable. If you’re here for pleasure, skimpy outfits will keep you cool on a nice day out. If you’re here for business, good luck with the suits in 30 degree weather.
Malaysian weather has its ups and downs. The temperature usually goes up but its nice to get some rainfall once in awhile. Some might say it’s a refreshing change as you wouldn’t need to carry a sweater/jacket around just in case the night brings about some chills. The only place that you probably need to worry about is the indoors such as shopping malls, restaurants and movie theatres. The air conditioning in there might get a little chilly. But after a long walk in the sun, a little bit of artificial coolness can be a welcomed change.
