January is winter in Northern Vietnam, is the rainy and cold season in the Central Coast, is the the dry season in the Central Highlands, and in Southern Vietnam.
The North of Vietnam generally enjoys brisk or crisp weather in January. The Central Coast of Vietnam has less heavy rain than in December, some days without rain. The Central Highlands and Southern Vietnam is in dry season. The temperatures in the Central Highlands and in Southern Vietnam are pleasant mostly.
General Weather Patterns in Vietnam in January
The Northeasterly Wind is the prevalent wind which affects all of Vietnam’s sea area and most of Vietnam’s inland regions in January.
All of the North of Vietnam is to have prevalent Northeasterly Wind :
- If the wind blows along the coast before hitting northern Vietnam, then there may be drizzle in Northern Vietnam with cool temperatures ;
- If the rain blows mostly through the continent, which is usually the case, then it is dry weather with mildsunshine in the North ; the mountainous regions turn chilly.
It is often the case recently that Northern Vietnam is more likely to enjoy cold and dry weather in January.
The Northeasterly Wind often causes rain in the Central Coast of Vietnam due to the terrain of this region. But in January it does not often rain hard compared to December. The Central Coast may have days without rain. The temperatures in the region are mostly pleasant.
The North of the Central Coast and The South of the Central Coast is more likely to have entered into the dry season with cloudy and sunny weather.
Adventure Travel, Nature Tours, Bird Watching Tours, Photo Tours in Vietnam in January
1/ Hiking Tours, Mountain Trekking Tours
January is generally a very good time for adventure tours in Northern Vietnam, except for the period the region has a new spell of the cool Northeasterly Wind blowing inland from the sea which may last for 1-2 days each. This wind, which can also blows through the continents only before hitting Vietnam, then it is just dry and beautiful weather.
It is winter in the North and the weather is mostly dry, windy, and cold in the first ten days of the month. Those embark on mountain trekking tours are to be awarded with beautiful clouds on high mountain peaks. In the first half of January there may be snow or frost in the mountainous regions in Northern Vietnam.
January is a fabulous time for hiking tours in the Central Highlands given it is the dry season here. Expect mild sunshine and excellent temperatures of 20-30oC most of the month.
2/ Adventure Tours
Northern Vietnam is a great place for general adventure tours in January. But be prepared with very cold temperatures which may reach below freezing point in the first ten days of the month.
The North of the Central Coast is to experience mostly dry weather with slightly cool temperatures. The South of the Central Coast enjoys mostly sunny weather with pleasant temperatures. The Mid of the Central Coast of Vietnam may have some light rain, but mostly cloudy weather.
In the Central Highlands and in Southern Vietnam, it is among the best times of the year for adventure tours with mostly dry weather, mild sunshine and pleasant temperatures. The temperatures in cities in Southern Vietnam may be slightly warm at mid day at times.
3/ Birding Trips and Bird Watching Tours
January is the migration time that most migratory bird species have been present in national parks and nature reserves in Vietnam, and bird parks in the country are vivid with wildlife. This is the best time for birding in Vietnam.
Birding sites in Vietnam in January :
- Cuc Phuong National Park (Ninh Binh) : : resident birds and migratory bird species.
- Van Long Nature Reserve (Ninh Binh): storks and water fowls.
- Xuan Thuy National Park (Nam Dinh) : storks, shore birds, migratory bird species.
- Bach Ma National Park (Thua Thien – Hue) : This is among the region with the top annual rainfalls in Vietnam and it is about the end of the rainy season: AdventureGreen do not organize trips be it eco tours or bird tours to Bach Ma National Park in January due to unpredictable weather patterns.
- Da Lat, Bidoup Nui Ba National Park, Deo Nui Sam at Di Linh (Lam Dong, Central Highlands) : Birding at Da Lat and other sites in Lam Dong Province is a great experience in January.
- Cat Tien National Park (Dong Nai, Southern Vietnam) : January is a great time for birdwatching at Cat Tien National Park.
4/ Family Tours
Generally speaking, families should have a good time traveling in Vietnam in January with the exception of the Central Coast where you may encounter light rain on some days. If your family plan a vacation in the South of the Central Coast such as Phan Rang-Thap Cham City (Ninh Chu Beach) and Mui Ne (Phan Thiet City) or those beaches in Southern Vietnam, then you should have a fantastic time.
5/ Island Holidays
The Northeasterly Wind causes rough sea all over Vietnam in January. Though you may have lovely dry weather with perfect temperatures, but the sea is quite rough for sea exploration tours, boat trips, snorkeling trips, scuba diving tours... If you accept these facts, then you can have good time on the islands : Co To Island and Quan Lan Island (Quang Ninh Province), Cat Ba Island (Hai Phong), Con Dao Islands (Ba Ria-Vung Tau), Phu Quy Island in Binh Thuan , Phu Quoc Island (Kien Giang).
January is not a recommended time to travel to islands in the Central Coast (Cu Lao Cham in Hoi An or Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai) due to strong winds, rough sea and gloomy weather mostly.
6/ Beach Vacations
In Northern Vietnam, Sam Son Beach or the beaches on islands in Northern Vietnam have rough sea mostly.
And those beaches in the South of the Central Coast have cloudy or sunny weather mostly with pleasant temperatures.
If you travel to Southern Vietnam then you may try Vung Tau Beach, Long Hai Beach and Ho Tram Beach (all in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province). You can have pleasant temperatures mostly with beautifully bright sunshine.
Below are reviews of the Weather in Vietnam in January 2024 Monitored by AdventureGreen
First week of January, 2024
The first week of January 2024 found a new spell of the Northeasterly Wind.
Regional weather at the beginning of the first week of January 2024 was as follows :
- Northeast : clouds, isolated rain, 12-24oC;
- Northwest : sun, clouds, 16-23oC in Hoa Binh ; clouds, rain, some sun, 13-23oC in Yen Bai, Lao Cai ; sun, 11-24oC in Son La, 8-22oC in Dien Bien, Lai Chau ;
- Lowlands in Northern Vietnam : sun, clouds, isolated rain, 17-26oC ;
- North of the Central Coast : sun, clouds, isolated rain, 18-24oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : some sun, clouds, rain, 18-25oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van : some sun, clouds, rain, 20-26oC ;
- South Central Coast (Quy Nhon – Nha Trang): sun, clouds, 22-28oC;
- South Central Coast ( Ninh Thuan, Phan Rang-Thap Cham): sun, clouds, 23-31oC ;
- South Central Coast ( Binh Thuan, Phan Thiet Mui Ne): sun, clouds, 23-31oC ;
- Central Highlands : sun, clouds, 18-29oC ;
- East of Southern Vietnam (Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai) : sun, clouds, 24-34oC ;
- West of Southern Vietnam (Mekong Delta) : sun, clouds, 24-33oC.
Second week of January, 2024
In the second week of January 2024 there was a new spell of the cool Northeasterly Wind which caused a streak of 4 days of rain in Northern Vietnam and part of the Central Coast. The other regions in the country mostly enjoyed sunny and pleasant weather. The temperatures were slightly warm in part of Southern Vietnam.
It seemed the Central Coast had entered the dry season already which is a few weeks earlier than normal.
Regional weather at the beginning of the second week of January was as follows :
- Northeast : srain, 14-20oC;
- Northwest : rain, 17-21oC in Hoa Binh, Yen Bai, 14-19oC in Lao Cai ; some sun, clouds, some rain, 13-21oC in Son La, Dien Bien, 12-20oC in Lai Chau ;
- Lowlands in Northern Vietnam : rain, 18-22oC ;
- North of the Central Coast : sun, clouds, some rain, 18-22oC in Thanh Hoa, 21-25oC in the others;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : some rain in Quang Binh, sun, clouds in the others, 20-25oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van (Da Nang to Quang Ngai) : sun, clouds, rain, 21-26oC ;
- South Central Coast (Quy Nhon – Nha Trang): sun, clouds, some isolated rain, 22-28oC ;
- South Central Coast ( Phan Rang-Thap Cham to Phan Thiet: sun, clouds, 21-30oC;
- Central Highlands : sun, clouds, 16-30oC mostly, 18-27oC in Dak Lak ;
- East of Southern Vietnam (Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai) : sun, clouds, 22-33oC;
- West of Southern Vietnam (Mekong Delta) : sun, clouds, 22-33oC.
Third week of January, 2024
In the third week of January 2024, the North just had passed a period of rainy weather and the region started having more clouds, weak sunshine. The Central Coast, the Central Highlands and Southern Vietnam had beautiful sunny days with pleasant temperatures. The Central Coast had come into the dry season, earlier than normal.
The regional weather was as follows:
- Northeast : mostly sun, clouds, some isolated rain, 18-24oC ;
- Northwest : sun, clouds, some rain, 18-25oC in Hoa Binh, Yen Bai ; mostly rain, 14-24oC in Lao Cai ; sun in Son La and Lai Chau ; mostly rain in Dien Bien, 13-23oC in Son La, Dien Bien, 8-20oC in Lai Chau ;
- Lowlands in Northern Vietnam : sun, clouds, rain, 19-26oC ;
- North of the Central Coast : sun, clouds, some rain, 18-26oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : mostly sun and clouds, some rain in Quang Binh, 19-27oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van : sun, clouds, rain, 20-27oC ;
- South Central Coast (Quy Nhon – Nha Trang): mostly sun or clouds, some rain, 23-27oC ;
- South Central Coast ( Phan Rang-Thap Cham to Phan Thiet : sun, clouds, 23-30oC ;
- Central Highlands : sun, clouds, 16-32oC mostly, 18-29oC in Dak Lak ;
- East of Southern Vietnam (Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai) : sun, clouds, 24-33oC ;
- West of Southern Vietnam (Mekong Delta) : sun, clouds, 24-33oC.
In mid of the third week of January 2024, there was hail for 15 minutes in Thu Lum Commune, Muong Te District of Lai Chau Province.
Fourth week and last days of January, 2024
In the fourth week and last days of January 2024, the North received successive spells of the cold Northeasterly Wind which caused cold temperatures in the region. It seems this had been the strongest of all spells of this monsoon since the beginning of this winter in 2023-2024.
The Central Coast had cool temperatures with some rain. The Central Highlands and Southern Vietnam enjoyed pleasant temperatures with beautiful sunshine.
Regional weather in Vietnam in the last 10 days of January 2024
- Northeast : clouds, rain, 3-12oC;
- Northwest : clouds, rain, 6-16oC in Yen Bai, Lao Cai, Hoa Binh; sun, clouds, rain in Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau;
- Lowlands in Northern Vietnam : some sun, clouds, rain, 8-17oC ;
- North of the Central Coast: clouds, rain 11-21oC ;
- Mid Central Coast to the north of Hai Van : some sun, clouds, rain, 11-21oC in Quang Binh, 15-21oC in Quang Tri and Hue;
- Mid Central Coast to the south of Hai Van: sun, clouds, rain, 19-24oC ;
- South Central Coast (Quy Nhon – Nha Trang): sun, clouds, some rain, 22-28oC ;
- South Central Coast ( Phan Rang-Thap Cham to Phan Thiet : sun, clouds, 23-30oC ;
- Central Highlands: sun, clouds, 19-28oC mostly, 17-29oC in Kon Tum;
- East of Southern Vietnam (Tay Ninh, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Binh Phuoc, Dong Nai): sun, clouds, 24-33oC .
- West of Southern Vietnam (Mekong Delta) : sun, clouds, 23-33oC.
The cold wind caused rain in the North of Vietnam for a day and the temperatures droppped to the lowest of the winter season in 2023-2024. There was frost, ice and snow in several places in Northern Vietnam.
The Central Coast of Vietnam had some heavy rain. Rainfalls measured in 13 hours from 19:00 hours of 22-January : Giang Hải (Thừa Thiên Huế) 103.8mm, Hòa Ninh (Đà Nẵng) 63.0mm, Sơn Phong (Quảng Nam) 51.6mm,…
The Central Coast of Vietnam had some heavy rain as a result of successive spells of the cold Northeasterly Wind. Rainfalls measured in 14 hours from 0:00 hours of 24-January: Dung Quất (Quảng Ngãi) 118.8mm, Cù Lao Chàm (Quảng Nam) 92.2mm, …
Disclaimer: Vietnam weather summary is for reviews of Vietnam weather by month on the basis as “it is” to the best of our knowledge. AdventureGreen does not guarantee the accuracy of our monthly reviews of Vietnam Weather. Our Vietnam Weather Reviews by month must not be used for making travel decisions or for any other purposes. AdventureGreen disclaims any liability in connection with with the use of our information.
