Northern Vietnam’s cold 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 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 the mountainous Lang Son’s Mau Son and Ha Giang’s Xin Cai, 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.

Temperatures have risen as the mass of cold air has begun to show signs of weakening, the center said. However, the weakening process is slower than previously anticipated, so the cold is expected to last until Jan. 29, with average daytime temperatures between 13-15 degrees. There can be occasional rains.

Starting Jan. 30, warmth would begin to return to northern Vietnam, providing an ideal condition for Tet activities.

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 expected to rise by 2-3 degrees for every day after. High-altitude locations like Sa Pa would remain cold until Jan. 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 ends on Friday, and temperatures would rise afterwards.

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

Then, Mau Son recorded temperatures of minus 2.5 degrees, the lowest in 11 years.