For years climate control specialists have relied on weather data from the Don Muang airport about 20 minutes drive north of downtown. But now new weather stations have been established in various parts of the city, and indicate significantly cooler temperatures and dew points downtown as indicated on the graph for this summer. My local readings in the Sukhumvit area closely match the red data, not the Don Muang data.
Blue, Don Muang. Red, downtown
As I will try to prove elsewhere, "dew point" is probably a better measure of comfort that temperature. You can see that by that measure Don Muang should be significantly less comfortable than the Sukhumvit area.
How can this be? At this point I offer no more than speculation. Maybe more heat-absorbing concrete, hence higher enthalpy. Maybe the sensor at Don Muang is defective.
Strange too, that Bangkok is said to be an urban "heat island", with temperatures about 5 degrees C higher than the adjoining countryside.
One of these days I am just going to have to take one of my "Hobo" recorders on a taxi ride to the airport and leave its brother at my brother's house downtown.
Anyone have any theories?
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