The Maldives: November 2014

The Maldives are a tropical climate which consists of around 70 to 80 degrees all year long. Humidity is generally high with the wet season experiencing humidity levels of above 80% on average and the dryer months still as high as 75%; this is somewhat tempered by the sea breeze that can be felt almost anywhere on the small, flat islands that make up the Maldives, particularly during February and March when humidity is at its lowest.

As talk about Monsoons within the Maldives, most of you are wondering what is a Monsoon and why is it so important in this region. A monsoon is a wind that shifts going northern or southern depending on the season. This is huge because it determines the weather, climate and rainfall for each season.

Certain characteristics that make the Maldives such a great tropical hot spot is the consistency of the Monsoons. The Monsoons are very mellow and mild compared to other tropical regions.

A great example of a monsoon (note the shifts in the wind movement on the left side)

Northwest Monsoon extending from January to March, during which the weather is predominantly dry and sunny.

The Maldives on a clear day during the Northeast monsoon.

Southwest Monsoon from mid May to November, which is wetter with occasional showers and brief thunderstorms

The Picture above is a great example of a southeast monsoon.

The Maldives location 250 miles (700km) south west of the coast of the India leaves the islands vulnerable to weather patterns from the Asian mainland. Although chances are highly unlikely that these islands will be hit with devastating storms the island faces another issue due to climate change which is the sea level rising. With this gruesome statistic the Maldives are more prone to sinking due to climate change.