Tropical depression strengthens into storm off central Vietnam

At around 11 a.m., the storm lay centered 150 km to the east of the coasts from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai provinces, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. Within Wednesday, the storm is forecast to move northwest at 10 kph and strengthen.

Over the next two days, the storm would move north-northwest and enter the Gulf of Tonkin. But on Saturday, due to its interaction with a mass of cold air, the storm would switch direction to the southwest and devolve back into a tropical depression.

Hoang Phuc Lam, vice director of the center, said the storm's trajectory would send it away from the mainland, with rains mainly happening at sea.

Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai will receive heavy rains until the end of Wednesday. More rains will then pour over their northern neighbors. Central Vietnam will see less rains starting Thursday.

The Japan Meteorological Agency anticipated that the storm would carry 70 kph winds on Wednesday, before slowing down to 64 kph and weakening as it moves towards China's Hainan Island.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the storm’s wind speed would reach 85 kph as it gets closer to Vietnam's northern coast. It would them move southward and slowly dissipates.

Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Quang Nam have all banned vessels from seafaring due to the impacts of the storm. Quang Tri and Quang Nam banned vessels from sailing from Tuesday afternoon, while Quang Binh issued the ban on Wednesday.

Border guard forces of coastal localities from Thanh Hoa to Khanh Hoa have informed over 53,000 vessels, along with over 220,000 people, about the trajectory and status of the storm for potential response measures.

The new storm is the fifth to make an appearance on the East Sea this year. It has not been named yet.