Is It Monsoon in Haiphong, Vietnam? Rainfall and Weather by Month

Is It Monsoon?
Haiphong, Vietnam JANUARY
17°
★★★
Shoulder season
14° to 20°
Cold & Grey
Cold and often drizzly, with low cloud settling over the harbor.
🧥 Warm layers☂️ Drizzle likely
19°
★★★
Off-peak season
16° to 21°
Damp & Overcast
The cloudiest, dampest month of the year, with the least sunshine of the whole year.
🧥 Warm layers☂️ Drizzle likely
21°
★★★
Shoulder season
18° to 23°
Cold Season Fades
Warming slowly, though the sky often stays overcast and the sun is still rarely seen.
🧥 Light jacket☂️ Drizzle possible
25°
★★★
Peak season
22° to 27°
Spring's Best
One of the best months of the year, mild and increasingly clear, with calm seas for a Cat Ba trip.
🧥 Light layers🚤 Best cruising weather
28°
★★★
Shoulder season
24° to 31°
Heat & Rain Build
The monsoon starts creeping in as the heat climbs, with the year's first properly warm, humid days.
☔ Umbrella essential🥵 Heat building
30°
★★★
Off-peak season
26° to 33°
Deep Monsoon
Hot, muggy, and increasingly wet, with rain a regular fixture now.
☔ Umbrella essential🥵 Heat protection
29°
★★★
Shoulder season
26° to 32°
Peak Heat
Among the hottest months of the year, with frequent, sometimes heavy rain.
☔ Heavy rain gear🥵 Heat protection
29°
★★★
Off-peak season
26° to 32°
Wettest Month
The rainiest month of the year, hot, muggy, and prone to sudden heavy downpours.
☔ Heavy rain gear⚠️ Flash-flood aware
28°
★★★
Shoulder season
24° to 31°
Summer Lingers
Still hot and rainy, though the heaviest of the monsoon starts to ease, and Do Son's buffalo fighting festival takes over the town.
📅
Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival, 9th day of the 8th lunar month
A centuries-old festival honoring local water deities with ceremonial buffalo fights, drawing large crowds to the Do Son peninsula. The exact date shifts each year with the lunar calendar but usually lands in September.
☔ Umbrella handy🐃 Buffalo festival
26°
★★★
Peak season
23° to 29°
Autumn Arrives
One of the most pleasant months of the year, cooling fast with noticeably less rain and clearer skies.
🧥 Light layers✨ Best sightseeing weather
23°
★★★
Peak season
19° to 27°
Best of Autumn
Widely considered the best month of the year: mild, comparatively dry, and calm for a bay cruise.
🧥 Light jacket🚤 Best cruising weather
19°
★★★
Shoulder season
16° to 22°
Winter Begins
Cooler and greyer again, though still noticeably sunnier and less bleak than January or February.
🧥 Warm layers☂️ Drizzle possible
Drag through the year Jan
Jan
Feb
Mar
⭐️
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
⭐️
Oct
⭐️
Nov
Dec
This month
Rainfall
25 mm
8 rainy days this month
Sunshine
3 hrs/day
23% of daylight hours
Humidity
77%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
15 km/h
Noticeable breeze
Rainfall
30 mm
13 rainy days this month
Sunshine
1.5 hrs/day
12% of daylight hours
Humidity
77%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
15 km/h
Noticeable breeze
Rainfall
51 mm
17 rainy days this month
Sunshine
1.5 hrs/day
12% of daylight hours
Humidity
80%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
14 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
94 mm
14 rainy days this month
Sunshine
3 hrs/day
23% of daylight hours
Humidity
82%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
14 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
201 mm
12 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6 hrs/day
46% of daylight hours
Humidity
79%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
13 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
244 mm
15 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6 hrs/day
46% of daylight hours
Humidity
76%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
13 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
226 mm
14 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6.5 hrs/day
50% of daylight hours
Humidity
77%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
13 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
361 mm
17 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6 hrs/day
46% of daylight hours
Humidity
80%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
11 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
254 mm
14 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6 hrs/day
46% of daylight hours
Humidity
78%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
12 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
155 mm
11 rainy days this month
Sunshine
6 hrs/day
46% of daylight hours
Humidity
74%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
14 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
41 mm
6 rainy days this month
Sunshine
5 hrs/day
38% of daylight hours
Humidity
74%
Air feels heavy and sticky
Wind
14 km/h
Light, barely noticeable
Rainfall
20 mm
5 rainy days this month
Sunshine
4.5 hrs/day
35% of daylight hours
Humidity
69%
Comfortably humid
Wind
15 km/h
Noticeable breeze
★★★ peak season, ★★☆ decent shoulder months, ★☆☆ true off-peak, based on rain frequency, heat, and haze.
Seasons at a glance
🌟
Peak season: Apr, Oct, Nov
Haiphong's best weather, spring's tail end into autumn's start: comfortable temperatures, less rain than the summer monsoon, and a break from winter's cold, clammy skies. Late October into November is the more reliable of the two windows, when Cat Ba and Lan Ha Bay are calmest for cruising, April can still catch the very end of a cool spell or the first build of pre-monsoon heat.
🌤️
Shoulder season: Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Sep, Dec
This tier covers real variety. December is markedly better than the months right after it, sunnier and less cold, though still firmly winter. January is cold and often drizzly. March starts warming but stays mostly grey. May, July, and September sit at different points of the summer monsoon, hot and rainy, but not always at its worst.
☔
Off-peak season: Feb, Jun, Aug
February is the coldest, cloudiest, and most drizzle-prone month of the year, with the least sunshine of the whole year. June and August sit deep in the summer monsoon, hot, humid, and prone to sudden heavy downpours, with August bringing the heaviest rain totals of the year.
Good to know
✈️
Cat Bi Airport has modest connections
Direct flights cover 11 destinations, mostly domestic plus a few Chinese cities. Many international travelers still connect through Hanoi's Noi Bai instead, about 100km and 1.5 hours away.
🚤
The gateway to Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay
Lan Ha Bay's limestone karsts rival Halong Bay's but see far fewer visitors, popular for kayaking, rock climbing, and overnight cruises departing from Haiphong.
🐃
The Do Son Buffalo Fighting Festival is a real spectacle
Held on the 9th day of the 8th lunar month, usually September, this centuries-old festival draws large crowds to Do Son for ceremonial buffalo fights, recognized as a National Intangible Cultural Heritage.
🌺
The city turns red every May and June
Haiphong is nicknamed the City of Red Flamboyant Flowers for the flame trees that bloom bright red along its streets each early summer.
Top attractions
1
Cat Ba Island and Lan Ha Bay
A short ferry or boat ride from the city, with over 300 limestone karsts, hidden beaches, and quieter waters than neighboring Halong Bay.
2
Do Son Beach
A former French colonial resort peninsula with three connected beaches, the Bao Dai Villa, and easy seafood dining, a popular weekend escape for Hanoi residents.
3
Haiphong Opera House
A restored French colonial theater built in 1904 in the city center, one of the best-preserved landmarks from the era alongside similar opera houses in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.