Why is this small town in Vietnam the only place where it snows?

As we all know, the tropical weather is very hot, and no snow can form in hot weather, so it is almost impossible to snow in the tropics. But this is not the case. In a small town in Lao Cai province, Vietnam, it is called Sabah, which is located in the tropics, but it snows occasionally in winter here. Tropical snow, I believe many people have heard about it for the first time like me.

Southeast Asia is basically located in the tropics. The climate in the tropics is characterized by high temperature all year round, and there is no obvious change in four seasons. Almost all the year round is summer, which is very hot. The lowest temperature in the whole year is not lower than 16 degrees Celsius, and the average temperature is 24 degrees Celsius. 16 degrees Celsius is still quite high, a thin coat can survive the winter, and snow will not form at this temperature at all.

But Sabah's altitude is too high, reaching 164 meters. As we all know, the higher the altitude, the thinner the air and the lower the temperature in the same place. Therefore, the temperature in Sabah is different from that in ordinary tropical areas. The average annual temperature here is only 15.3 degrees Celsius, which is lower than the lowest temperature in tropical areas. In winter in Sabah, the temperature can reach single digits, and occasionally it can reach below zero. Coupled with the abundant water vapor in Sabah, it is very common for Sabah to snow when a very strong cold wave strikes.

In a country like Vietnam, where the temperature is high all the year round, it is a kind of welfare to have a place like Sabah, which is very suitable for summer. As early as the last century, when Vietnam was a French colony, French colonists found Sabah as a summer resort in the vast Vietnam because they couldn't stand the high temperature in Vietnam, and spent the hot summer here.

Sabah is actually a tourist attraction worth visiting. It is very close to our country, 5 kilometers behind Yunnan Province, and we can also visit Sabah for one day without signing in, which can be said to be very convenient.