Hailstorm hits Vietnam’s tourist town Sa Pa

• Winter cold brings frost to mountains in northern Vietnam
• Northern Vietnam to be hit by multiple cold snaps

The first hailstorm of the year hit the mountainous resort town Sa Pa in northern Vietnam on Friday afternoon, forming thin ice at the top of the country’s peak Fansipan.

Visitors to Fansipan enjoy holding the small hailstones. Photo by Luc Thanh Chien

Hailstones of around five millimeters fell from the height of 2,600 meters from around noon to 5 p.m.

Locals said it was around one degree Celsius right before the hailstorm.

“It was blurry all day and freezing cold,” said Ngoc Oanh, who works at the Fansipan cable car.

Another hailstorm also hit Dien Bien Province, around 300 kilometers to the west, on Friday afternoon, damaging local crops.

Luu Minh Hai, director of Lao Cai’s weather forecast center, said hailstorms usually occur in Vietnam’s mountainous areas between February and April.

In early January, a cold spell also brought frost to Lao Cai.

Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center, has forecast that there will be thunderstorms and hailstorms during spring in northern Vietnam.

 

 

Hailstorm hits Vietnam’s tourist town Sa Pa

Hailstorm hit Vietnam’s resort town Sa Pa

Related news:

>Winter cold brings frost to mountains in northern Vietnam

>Northern Vietnam to be hit by multiple cold snaps