By virtue of its location the climatic condition of Gelephu is sharply different from most of the towns located in the high altitudes of the country. There is a warm-humid climate persistent during most of the months of the year except with the temperature dropping to around 13 0 C in winters. The average annual rainfall of the region is one of the highest in the country of about 5000 mm.

The following charts span the climatic data for specific months of the year, chosen largely for the variation observed over the period of past five years.

Table 3.1 : Temperature (Max. and Min.), Relative Humidity and Rainfall

Temperature (Maximum) (Celsius)

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Feb	27.4	21.5	23.0	23.9	23.2
May	28.4	28.4	29.4	29.4	29.3
Aug	28.8	30.3	31.2	29.8	30.8
Nov	26.0	23.4	26.0	27.2	25.7
Annual Mean	27.8	26.2	27.4	27.1	27.2

Temperature (Minimum) (Celsius)

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Feb	18.8	16.7	16.4	15.1	14.3
May	24.6	24.2	23.6	22.5	21.7
Aug	25.3	25.6	26.4	24.3	25.3
Nov	20.9	13.3	19.2	17.4	18.6
Annual Mean	22.2	20.3	21.5	19.3	19.8

Relative Humidity (Percentage)

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Feb	52.4	62.4	74.1	75.4	81.4
May	73.3	69.4	88.2	78.8	78.0
Aug	77.4	67.3	79.3	83.8	90.0
Nov	56.9	55.6	79.8	80.4	75.1
Annual Mean	67.2	63.2	79.7	81.3	81.0

Rainfall (mm)

	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003
Feb	0.0	25.4	2.6	0.0	58.2
May	602.3	568.4	803.0	246.2	237.0
Aug	1336.8	999.1	709.6	691.4	989
Nov	4.2	24.5	34.0	45.8	7.8
Annual Total	5720.2	4806.9	4770.3	3939.8	5420.0

Source: Meteorological Charts, Meteorology Section, Hydromet Services Division, Department of Energy, Ministry of Trade and Industries, RGoB.

The above noted differences in temperature and humidity, as well as rainfall, when compared with the rest of the country results in a relatively different planning approach in the future.