Southern Vietnam to enter rainy season next week

Ho Chi Minh City received its first rains, after going through a string of hot and sunny days, on May 8.

Since then, the city has continued to experience cloudy days and showers in several areas.

Le Thi Xuan Lan, former deputy head of the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center’s forecast department, told Vietnam News Agency that the rainy season would arrive in southern Vietnam in the middle this month.

It will start first in the Mekong Delta and Ho Chi Minh City, she said.

The typical weather of the rainy season in the southern region is sunny during the day and rain in the afternoon until the evening or even throughout the night. Sometimes it rains all day.

During the monsoon season, which normally lasts until November, the temperature remains high, especially during the day.

A report by the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting on Friday said in the next three days, southern Vietnam will receive rains and strong winds in several areas in the afternoon and evening.

The highest temperatures in the southeast, home to HCMC, Dong Nai and Binh Duong, are forecast at 30-33 degrees Celsius while in the Mekong Delta, the mercury will stay at peaks of 29-32 degrees.

Between May 14 and 22, the region will likely see more heavy rains in the afternoons and evenings.

The center said last week that this year’s total rainfall would be lower than average due to El Nino, a recurring climate pattern caused by changes in water temperature in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.