Weather, What time of the year is best?

Weather
In relation to the rest of Thailand, Chiang Mai is considered to be quite cool with an average yearly temperature of 25.4°C. The highest temperatures are in the low 40s and the lowest 5-10°C. There are three seasons in Northern Thailand: summer (hot and humid), rainy (wet – monsoon) and winter (cool and dry).
Contrary to guide books recommendations, Chiang Mai is a great destination for motorcycle riding 8 months of the year
The favorite time for many visitors is therefore in winter (November-February) when temperatures drop to a pleasant cool and chilly in the mountains, with bright sunshine and clear blue skies. There is also an abundance of flowers, making this a time when Chiang Mai is at her prettiest. November to mid December the country side is still green, however from January until the rains hit in April, vegetation and the countryside can appear to be quite barren and dry.

Come to Chiang Mai in summer (March-June) and you will find April and May at times the weather quite uncomfortably hot. Mid march the country side is affected by pollution as the local authorities controlled forest burning fills the air with smoke. I deter customers and friends from coming riding or visiting from mid March until mid April and the start of the first rain clears the sky’s.

April and the Songkhran festival marks the start of the rainy season, however, April, May and June the rainfall is usually isolated showers and rarely affects motorcycle touring. I still find April and May very hot for road touring and again deter customers from road touring during this period, however, May in my opinion is the peak of the best off-road riding time, with dust settled and low water levels still for creek crossing, the undergrowth is fire burnt clean, the rain has greened and rejuvenated the forest and off-coarse it is much cooler under the shade of trees.
June is a great road touring month with great photo opts and rarely do you get wet.

In the rainy season (July-October) you will be lucky to get a week of clear skies, but monsoon rains are isolated and the landscape beautiful as the mountains are lush and green. July is still good motorcycle tour riding as it is possible to dodge the isolate showers, and if we happened to hit a downpour we can usually ride through the warm rain within 15 minutes. I enjoy riding in August and September however the roads will mostly be wet even if we manage to dodge the showers, bring your skills and wet weather gear for this period.

November – only a little rain, great road, great off-road
December - dry weather, awesome road and off-road
January - dry weather, great road and off-road month
February - dry weather, great road and good off-road a little dusty
March - dry weather, ok road, off-road until usually mid march then the sky’s littered with smoke pollution, don’t come then.
April – we still have pollution till usually mid April until the start of the rain clears the sky’s and put out the fires, From mid March off-road is ok under the shade of the tree’s, but to hot for road tours
May – odd showers, awesome off-road, too hot for road.
June – odd showers, great road, it has cooled a little and off-road is good but can be slippery
July – rainy, good road although can be a little damp, good off-road but slippery and wet
August – wet lots of rain, no off-road still good road but expect to be wet
September – wet lots of rain, no-offroad still good road but expect to get wet
October – rain has eased great road, ok off-road but restricted with trails