Storm Sanba forecast to leave Vietnam in peace for Tet

Storm Sanba, the second storm expected to enter Vietnam’s waters so far this year, is unlikely to cause significant damage thanks to a cold front that has moved in which is forecast to take the wind out of its sails, meteorologists said.

At 7 a.m. on Monday, the eye of Sanba was lying 650 kilometers (403 miles) east of the Philippines' southern coast, with maximum wind speeds of 75 kilometers per hour, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Weather forecasters said the storm will cross Palawan Island in the Philippines before weakening as it enters the East Sea, known internationally as the South China Sea, on Wednesday night, a day before Lunar New Year's Eve, which marks the start of Vietnam's biggest holiday known as Tet.

According to meteorologists, there is little chance of the storm growing stronger due to a cold front that has just moved in.

This cold front is moving down from northern Vietnam to the country’s south-central and southern regions, where the storm is forecast to be heading in the coming days.

Temperatures at sea on Wednesday are forecast to be below 26 degrees Celsius (78 degrees Fahrenheit), and the Hong Kong Observatory predicts that Sanba will weaken to a tropical depression on Tuesday before crossing the Philippines.

Vietnam's first storm of 2018, Bolaven, struck on January 3, but weakened to a tropical depression when it reached Vietnamese waters and caused no damage following a series of natural disasters last year.

Vietnam was hit by 16 tropical storms in 2017. The storms and numerous floods left 389 people dead or missing and injured 668 others, mostly in northern and central regions. The disasters caused damage worth around VND60 trillion ($2.64 billion), 1.5 times more than the previous year, according to the General Statistics Office.