Cold to cover North; salinity affects rivers in South

Northern Vietnam will experience biting cold and rainy weather from Wednesday as a result of a cold snap that is entering the region. Meanwhile, salinity is increasing in river mouths in the South.

>> Snow covers Mau Son as temp drops to minus 1°C

The cold snap will combine with a high west wind, causing a chill with rains and thunderstorms in northern provinces, the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center reported.

This weather pattern will last for three or four days and it will also affect north central Thua Thien Hue Province. 

Partly affected by the cold snap, many other provinces in the central region will experience rain.

The weather pattern will cause rough seas and strong winds of 39-61 kph and gusts of up to 74 kph in the Gulf of Tonkin and the waters in the northern East Sea from tomorrow afternoon.

The waters off the central region, including those surrounding Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, will also be rough and experience the same strong winds, which may extend to the waters off the region between Binh Thuan and Ca Mau provinces.

In northwestern provinces, the lowest temperatures will be 13-16 degrees Celsius and the highest, 19-22 degrees. There will be scattered showers.

In northeastern provinces, there will be scattered rains, and the lowest and highest temperatures will be 14-16 and 18-21 degrees. Hanoi will experience the same temperatures, where there will also be rain in some areas. 

In the region from Da Nang to south-central Binh Thuan province, it will be sunny in the daytime and won’t rain at night. The lowest and highest temperatures there will be 14-16 and 18-21 degrees, respectively.

In the Central Highlands region, there will be no rain at night and it will be sunny during the day. The lowest temperatures will be 15-18 and the highest, 29-32 degrees.

In the southern region, including Ho Chi Minh City, the lowest and highest temperatures will be 21-24 and 31-34 degrees.

Salinity in river mouths

Meanwhile, the Southern Hydro-meteorological Station said that the salinity at the mouths of many rivers in the region is increasing.

Particularly, the salinity of the Saigon, Dong Nai, and Vam Co rivers has been higher than in 2003 as well as the average levels of the same periods in previous years. The salinity level will peak in the coming days.

It is worth noting that the radius of the area affected by the salinity is as far as 20-30 km from the river mouths.

However, the salinity of the Mekong River is lower than that of the same period last year, the station reported.