Northern Vietnam chill to dissipate starting Saturday

On the fifth day of a severe cold wave that has been assaulting northern Vietnam, temperatures in the region have increased by 1-2 degrees on Friday compared to the coldest day of the wave on Jan. 23. Eleven out of 25 northern Vietnam localities recorded temperatures below 10 degrees, mostly in mountainous areas, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Ice is now only present in Lang Son’s Mau Son and Ha Giang’s Xin Cai areas, and their coverage has been reduced as temperatures had already risen above zero degrees. Other high-altitude locations like Lao Cai’s Sa Pa, Ha Giang’s Dong Van, Vinh Phuc’s Tam Dao and Bac Kan’s Cho Ra recorded temperatures between 3-6 degrees.

Mau Son recorded the lowest temperature of minus 2.9 degrees this cold wave.

Temperatures have risen as the mass of cold air has begun to show signs of weakening, the center reported.

However, the weakening process has been slower than previously anticipated, so the cold is expected to last until Monday, with average daytime temperatures between 13-15 degrees. Occasional rains are expected through the region.

Starting Tuesday, warmth is forecast begin returning to northern Vietnam, providing an ideal condition for Tet Lunar New Year Festival activities throughout the nation’s largest week-long holiday.

U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather said Hanoi’s temperatures on Saturday and Sunday would be around 10-14 degrees, before rising to 14-15 degrees on Monday. Temperatures are then expected to rise by 2-3 degrees over the next few days after that. High-altitude locations like Sa Pa would remain cold until January 29, with daytime temperatures at 8-15 degrees, and nighttime temperatures at 6-9 degrees.

The severe cold wave in central Vietnam’s Thanh Hoa and Nghe An provinces is predicted to last until the end of Friday, and with temperatures forecast to rise afterwards.

This is the second severe cold wave this winter after an earlier one that lasted Dec. 17 to 22.

At that time, the Mau Son region recorded temperatures of minus 2.5 degrees, the lowest in 11 years.