According to Nguyen Huu Thanh, deputy head of the Weather Forecasting Division under the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, this cold spell hits the central-central region and south-central regions from December 30, and then spreads to the central and Central Highlands localities and farther to the southern region from December 31.
Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Ha Giang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai and Yen Bai provinces will be the areas most affected, with temperatures dropping below 10C, and even below 0C in the high mountainous areas.
The expert predicted that between four to six cold spells will hit Vietnam in January, with the temperatures in the first 20 days lower than many years’ average.
The La Nina phenomenon will continue through the first half of 2021, and then the climate will shift to the neutral conditions in summer 2021.
As a result, heat waves in summer months of 2021 will occur in the northern and central regions later than and be less severe than in 2020.
Storms and tropical depressions are forecast to happen in the East Sea (South China Sea) earlier than in 2020, and hit the mainland mainly at the last months of the year.
Thanh advised taking precautions against strong storms in the entire country as well as in the East Sea with complicated developments.
