Cold front to sweep through northern Vietnam

It will first affect the northeast region by Monday evening, followed by the Red River Delta and the northwest areas, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

The northern region is expected to see scattered rain and level 3-5 winds, which correspond to speeds of 12-38 kph, on Monday and Tuesday.

U.S.-based weather forecasting service Accuweather predicts that Hanoi's temperature will drop to 16-19 degrees on Tuesday. Temperatures are expected to fall further to 14 degrees at nighttime and 20-24 degrees during daytime in the days after that.

In high-altitude areas above 1,500 meters, such as Lao Cai’s Sa Pa, temperatures will plummet to severe cold levels starting on Wednesday, averaging below 13 degrees during the day and 8-11 degrees at night.

The strong cold air mass will spread to central Vietnam from Tuesday, bringing temperatures there to 16-18 degrees. Rainstorms are expected, along with risks of whirlwinds, lightning, and strong gusts.

Starting from the evening of Monday, the Gulf of Tonkin will experience strong winds with speeds of 39-61 kph and waves reaching 2-3.5 meters.

By Tuesday afternoon, coastal areas from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai provinces will see level 6 winds, which have speeds of 39-49 kph and waves rising to 2-4 meters.

The hydro-meteorological center predicts that strong cold spells will persist from December to next February. Frost and ice are likely to appear in the northern mountainous regions.