Vietnam approaching warmer winter: meteorologists

Nguyen Van Huong, head of the weather forecast department at the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, told Vietnam News Agency that average temperatures across the country this month have been higher than the average level by 0.5-1 degree Celsius.

In November and December, they are predicted to rise another 0.5-1.5 degrees higher, according to the center's meteorologists, said Huong.

This year's upcoming winter will bring less frigid and shorter cold spells than most years recorded in recent memory, he said, adding that the impacts of cyclical but intermittent disruptive El Nino weather pattern around the globe explain the effects expected to create a warmer winter here.

In Vietnam, winter normally arrives in the north and north central region in November and lasts until March. But some meteorologists are uncertain when this year's Vietnam winter will begin and end as many regions across the earth have already seen surprising and unpredicted seasonal beginnings and endings this El Nino year.