As of Sunday, southern Vietnam has been experiencing a continuous heatwave for 23 days and the Southern Regional Hydro-Meteorological Center has said the entire region will keep experiencing hot weather for Monday, with the highest temperature expected at 32-35 degrees in the southwest, 36-38 in the southeast, home to Ho Chi Minh City, and over 36 in some places of Dong Nai and Binh Phuoc provinces.
The temperature will rise highest in the region from noon to around 4 p.m., it said.
In February, observation stations in Thu Dau Mot (Binh Duong Province), Nha Be (Ho Chi Minh City), Cao Lanh (Dong Thap Province), and Tho Chu (Phu Quoc Island) recorded temperatures that broke records for the same period.
Notably, the station in Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai Province reached 38 degrees Celsius, breaking a nearly 30-year-old record.
No off-season rainfall has occurred at the beginning of the dry season, a rare phenomenon for southern Vietnam. The only exception was a brief spell of rain on Feb. 27 in a few provinces, amounting to just a few millimeters.
The center’s weather forecast for March indicates that the rainfall shortage will continue, with very little to no off-season rain expected.
The heatwave might even become more severe than in February, with temperatures commonly ranging from 34 to 37 degrees Celsius, and parts of the southeast region could experience temperatures between 37 to 39 degrees Celsius.
According to the center, the heat is coming earlier this year, and to a wider area, because of the El Nino weather phenomenon.