Northern Vietnam temperatures plunging to zero

By Gia Chinh January 18, 2024 | 07:14 am PT

Children warm themselves up in front of a bonfire on Hanoi outskirts in December 2023. Photo by VnExpress/Gia Chinh

Mountainous areas of northern Vietnam will be literally freezing Saturday and beyond as a new cold front descends on the region with temperatures as low as zero degrees Celsius.

The cold air will affect mountainous regions first, before expanding over the eastern parts of northern Vietnam and the Red River Delta a day later, said Hoang Phuc Lam, vice director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Starting next Monday, the waves of cold air will continue to pummel the area, plunging the rest of northern and north-central Vietnam into a spell of deep cold, with average daytime temperatures below 15 degrees.

Lam said the waves of cold air will last at least until Jan. 28, with the coldest period being from Jan. 22 to 23. The plains will see the lowest temperatures recorded at below 10 degrees, the midlands at below 7 degrees, and the mountains at zero.

In the first few days after the big chill arrives, northern and north-central Vietnam will see rains, while mountainous regions will likely experience ice and frost.

U.S. weather forecast service AccuWeather anticipated Hanoi’s temperatures on Friday to be at 20-27 degrees, before rapidly dropping to 13-20 degrees by Sunday. The capital will experience the most intense severity of the cold front from Jan. 22 to 23, with temperatures dropping to 9-15 degrees.

The peaks of Mau Son in Lang Son will feel the brunt of the harsh weather first, with temperatures dropping to minus 1 degree starting next Monday. High-altitude locations like Lao Cai’s Sa Pa should see temperatures dropping to 5-7 degrees on Thursday next week.

Central Vietnam regions will also be affected by the cold wave, though the further south, the lesser the effects will be. Thanh Hoa may see its lowest temperature drop to 12-15 degrees next week, while Da Nang should experience temperatures of 20-22 degrees at lowest.

The standing office of the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention has requested northern and north-central Vietnam localities to monitor reports about the cold front, as well as deploy measures to ensure safety for students, among other recommendations.

The winter-spring season of 2023-2024 saw severe cold fronts bruise northern Vietnam from Dec. 17 to 27 last year. On Dec. 22 in particular, temperatures on Mau Son dropped to minus 2.5 degrees, the lowest temperature recorded in the last 11 years.