Saigon shivers as temperature falls to 19 degrees

The Southern Regional Hydrometeorological Center said a mass of cold air moving southward was responsible for temperatures in southern Vietnam falling by 2-3 degrees since.

In some places, including at a station in Dong Nai Province which borders HCMC, temperatures have dipped to as low as 14.4 degrees Celsius, it said.

The coldest it got in the city last year was 20 degrees Celsius.

In the next 72 hours the mass of cold air is expected to weaken, bringing warmer and less rainy days, but the cold is expected to persist at least until Thursday morning, it forecast.

On the city’s streets, many people could be seen wearing coats and scarves.

Many also expressed surprise at the sudden fall in temperature.

Truong Quang Danh of Binh Tan District said: "I shiver as I ride on the street, but I like it. It’s like I’m in Da Lat." He was referring to the Central Highlands town known for cool climate.

In the last decade the coldest temperature recorded in the city was 17 degrees Celsius in 2009.

The lowest ever recorded since after the war (1976) was 16.4 degrees Celsius on December 25, 1999.

Vietnam is expected to experience a colder winter than usual this year as the Pacific Ocean sea surface temperature drops, forming the La Niña phenomenon, the weather office had said last year.