Hail in northern mountains paints towns white

At around 4 p.m. a hailstones began to rain down on Pa Co Town in Mai Chau District.

A village in Hang Kia Town covered in hailstones after the 20-minute storm.

A mountainous district, Mai Chau is a valley surrounded by limestone mountains. Agriculture is well developed here, with people growing various items like vegetables, watermelon and plum.

Ice cubes 1-2 cm across were washed to the sides of National Highway 6 by rain.

After over an hour the hailstones had not melted away.

Gusts of wind and hailstones also hit Long Luong Commune in Son La's Van Ho District, two kilometers away from the affected communes in Mai Chai District.

The hailstones cover crop fields in Van Ho District. Giang A De, chairman of Long Luong Commune, said his administration sent officials to assist people and assess the damage.

Since April 17 around 15 northern localities have been hit by hailstorms. Around 12,000 houses saw their roofs blown off. In Hanoi a storm on April 20 felled over 250 trees and damaged dozens of vehicles.

At 10:30 a.m. the same day gusts in Viet Tri City and Lam Thao District in Phu Tho Province damaged 28 houses and other buildings, including schools.

The hailstorms have been caused by a mass of cold air and high-altitude winds, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

It hails often in mountainous areas.

On Thursday however the northern region will enter a warm period.