Vietnam sees 35 rainfall records broken in October

Storm Matmo hit China’s Guangxi Province on Oct. 6 and weakened into a low-pressure area as it reached Vietnam’s northern province of Lang Son.

It caused heavy rain in the north, especially in the provinces of Lang Son, Bac Ninh, Cao Bang and Thai Nguyen.

Flooding in downtown Thai Nguyen, northern Vietnam, Oct. 8, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Duy Khac

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that 12 rainfall records were established on Oct. 7, most of them in Thai Nguyen, the area with the most severe flooding.

At the Bac Kan station, 24-hour rainfall was 201 mm, nearly double the 106 mm peak in 1964.

Thai Nguyen downtown recorded 491 mm, the highest nationwide during Storm Matmo, nearly 2.5 times that of the previous record in 1978.

Cao Bang established two records. One station recorded 207 mm, 33 mm higher than the previous peak in 2000, and another measured 122 mm, which was 40 mm more than 1978.

In Lang Son, the records were 179 mm and 149 mm, higher than 1987 and 1990, respectively.

Bac Ninh Province, which includes the former Bac Giang Province, saw rainfall in one station reaching 365 mm, triple that of the 1987 mark. Another station recorded 256 mm, exceeding 1987 level.

 

 

Vietnam sees 35 rainfall records broken in October

Ngập lụt Bắc Ninh nhìn từ trực thăng

All of these were single-day records. October also saw 14 new single-month records established.

Total rainfall during the month in Thai Nguyen reached 573 mm, higher than the previous high of 363 mm in 1964.

Two other stations recorded 566 mm and 441 mm, breaking 1981 and 2011 highs, respectively.

Heavy rain caused floods on four rivers to rise quickly with nine stations exceeding historical flood levels.

One of them, the Cau River, saw flood exceeding the 2024 record by 1.09 meters.

In terms of damage, Matmo-triggered rain and floods caused 18 deaths and flooded more than 239,000 houses.

33,600 hectares of seasonal crops and rice, nearly 1,500 ha of fruit trees, 970 ha of perennial trees, 254 ha of forestry trees, more than 19,200 livestock, and more than 1.3 million poultry died or were swept away.

Economic damage is estimated at over VND17 trillion (US$646 million).

Storm Fengshen

In the central region, Storm Fengshen, combined with cold air and other factors, caused widespread heavy rain the past week.

In Hue City, a station on Oct. 27 recorded 968 mm, 260 mm higher than the previous peak in 2007.

Flooding in Hue on Oct. 28, 2025. Photo by VnExpress/Vo Thanh

Bach Ma Mountain Peak station recorded one-day rainfall of 1,739 mm, nearly equal to the average annual rainfall in all of Vietnam (1,400-2,400 mm).

This is also the highest rainfall ever in Vietnam and the second highest in the world, only after 1,825 mm at a French observation station in the Indian Ocean in January 1966.

Five flood records were established on five rivers in the central region.

In terms of damage, 32 people died, four people missing, and 43 people injured.

Rising water damaged 181 houses and flooded more than 130,000 houses. Hundreds of landslide points were recorded on most national highways and roads, causing traffic blocks and isolating many areas.

Unfavorable weather patterns

Truong Ba Kien, Deputy Director of the Center for Meteorological and Climate Research, said that October rainfall far exceeded the multi-year average due to the unfavorable factors among many large-scale weather systems, including ENSO, which is the interaction between ocean water and atmosphere in the Pacific Ocean, causing changes in global weather.

Monsoons and climate change also contributed to the severe impact, he added.

Kien said that in October, tropical depressions and storms continuously entered the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea.

"When combined with early and strong reinforced cold air along with active tropical convergence zones, they caused extremely heavy and prolonged rain over a wide area."

In addition, equatorial tropical waves were recorded as stronger than average, forming thick clouds and heavy rain.

Citing recent studies, Kien said the western Pacific subtropical high has a trend of gradually shifting westward and expanding its activity range, changing storm paths and movement speeds.

October confirmed that weather phenomena are becoming more extreme, he said.

"This reality poses an urgent requirement to enhance forecasting capacity, early warning, and integrated climate risk management in the near future."