The driest month in Vietnam for each place we cover

The driest month in Vietnam changes by place, and a dry month in the table can still contain recorded rain. The figures are station averages for a typical month, not a forecast.

The full driest-month table

The table covers every place on our map that has a rainfall record. Altitude and distance describe the weather station, not the destination. Ho Chi Minh City has no rainfall record because its source has temperature only.

The dry months differ by region

The northern records in this table point toward December or February. Hanoi's driest month is December at 20.2 mm, Ha Long Bay's is December at 18.1 mm, and Sa Pa's is December at 65.7 mm. Ha Giang, Ninh Binh, and Phong Nha reach their lowest rainfall in February, at 38.8 mm, 26.4 mm, and 39.9 mm.

Central records can move to March. Hue's driest month is March at 51.3 mm, while the combined Hoi An and Da Nang record is February at 23.6 mm. Those two results show why a single national dry-season label can hide a local shift.

The southern and coastal records vary again. Da Lat's driest month is January at 9.1 mm. The Mekong Delta's is February at 3.8 mm. Nha Trang reaches 16.1 mm in February, Phu Quoc 27.2 mm in February, and Con Dao 11.2 mm in March. The Vietnam when-to-go guide can help turn those regional differences into a route question without changing the source values.

For a closer look at the high station in the north, see Sa Pa in winter. For the southern highland record, the Da Lat dry-season table shows how January compares with December through March. The rain days versus millimeters guide explains why the lowest rainfall value is only one part of a month.

A driest month can still have rain

"Driest" means the lowest rainfall total of the twelve months at that place. It does not mean zero rain. Sa Pa's driest month still has 65.7 mm. Hue's driest month has 51.3 mm. Phong Nha's has 39.9 mm. Even Da Lat's low January value is 9.1 mm, not zero.

Rain days make the same point. Da Lat's January has 2.2 rain days and the Mekong Delta's February has 0.8. These are station averages, not a guarantee that you will or won't see a shower.

Use the table to compare the lowest totals, then open a destination page for rain days, sun hours and temperature. The Da Lat page and Sa Pa page keep the local station caveats in view.

Ho Chi Minh City has no rainfall record here

Ho Chi Minh City's station is Tân Sơn Hòa, 5 m above sea level and 6 km from the map pin. Its source gives monthly mean temperature but no rainfall, rain days, drizzle days, fog days or sun hours, so we list "No rainfall record" instead of choosing a driest month.

The missing record is not evidence that it doesn't rain. The Ho Chi Minh City page has what we do have for the city.

What this does not tell you

Most places in the table use QCVN 02:2022/BXD, the national technical regulation on natural physical and climatic data for construction. The regulation does not state the observation period of its tables. We do not name one. Ho Chi Minh City uses JMA ClimatView monthly mean temperatures, but that source does not add a rainfall record to this table.

The station distance and altitude matter. Phong Nha uses the Đồng Hới station 37 km from the map pin. Sa Pa's station is 1,570 m and 2 km from the pin. The table does not measure road conditions, storms, flooding, local showers, or the weather on a chosen travel date. It compares the lowest monthly totals at each station.

References

• QCVN 02:2022/BXD, National technical regulation on natural physical and climatic data for construction: https://datafiles.chinhphu.vn/cpp/files/vbpq/2022/10/02-bxd.pdf. Checked 2026-09.
• JMA ClimatView monthly normals, station 48900 Tan Son Hoa: https://ds.data.jma.go.jp/tcc/tcc/products/climate/climatview/graph_mkhtml_nrm.php?n=48900&y=2026&m=8&e=7&r=1&s=1&k=0. Checked 2026-09.

Photo: Hòn Nội, Nha Trang Bay, Vietnam.jpg, Minh Duc Ly, Public domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:H%C3%B2n_N%E1%BB%99i,_Nha_Trang_Bay,_Vietnam.jpg

Data checked: September 2026.