Weather & Climate News Hoi An & Vietnam
Published on Tuesday, 09 May 2017 13:00
Written by Saigoneer.
Vietnam expected to suffer 13 to 15 tropical storms in 2017
Time to break out your boots and raincoats, Saigoneers: Vietnam’s stormy season is right around the corner.
According to VietnamPlus, Vietnam’s weather forecast for the rest of the year doesn’t look good as the East Sea will see more than a dozen typhoons during the rainy season and El Niño during the dry season.
Le Thanh Hai, Deputy General Director of the National Hydro-Meteorological Center, told the news source on May 3 that El Niño is expected to cause prolonged droughts, and thus saltwater intrusion, nation-wide through the end of the year, especially in the Mekong Delta.
This prediction is corroborated by reports from foreign meteorology agencies such as Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology and the US National Centers for Environmental Prediction. Both expect El Niño to affect the Asia-Pacific region starting from July and remain in place through the rest of 2017.
Hoang Phuc Lam, head of the meteorological forecasting department at the National Hydro-Meteorological Center, shared that during the rainy season, Vietnam will be impacted by 13 to 15 tropical storms and depressions. However, Lam assured that the number of storms will be lower than last year, which was especially active, and the effects of El Niño will also be less severe.
"Although the number of storms and tropical depressions will decrease, the risk of strong storms is very high,” he said. “Localities should be prepared for a year of unusual occurrence of storms. El Niño will last until the end of 2017."
14-10-2016
Budding typhoon to strike Philippines before eyeing southern China, Vietnam
A budding typhoon threatens to blast Luzon Island of the Philippines with flooding rain and damaging winds this weekend before taking aim at southern China and northern Vietnam.
Tropical Storm Sarika, known as Karen in the Philippines, will track very close to the northern Bicol region of Luzon on Friday night into Saturday, local time, before slamming into central Luzon on Saturday night.
13-10-2016
Central Vietnam preps for tropical depression; flood, landslide expected
Tropical depression Central Vietnam
Tidal floods
27-09-2016
Water brings Saigon to it's knees!
Ho Chi Minh City in chaos after heavy rain
26-09-2016
Typhoon MEGI will influence weather on the East Sea and in Vietnam.
Megi on TuoitreNews
20-09-2016
Ho Chi Minh City wrestles with high tide?
Residents of Ho Chi Minh City have struggled to deal with the highest tides since the beginning of this year, which hit the southern hub on Monday night.
Many areas were seriously inundated, affecting the lives of locals and posing difficulty for commuters.
High tide photo's Ho Chi Minh City
High tide photo's Ho Chi Minh City
17-08-2016
Downpours continue to lash northern Vietnam
Although only one of two recent depressions remains, northern Vietnam can expect to experience downpours and high winds, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF) has said. read more
05-08-2016
Typhoon Nida, North Vietnam
02-08-2016
Tornado Yen Phong Distric, Vietnam
A camera mounted on the dashboard of a car captures scenes reminiscent of a disaster movie as a tornado rips through the Yen Phong district in Vietnam’s northern Bac Ninh province. As the car drives away from the destruction, metal sheets fly through the air and makeshift buildings are blown apart by the force of the wind.
21-06- 2016
El Nino drought leaves millions hungry and in need of drinking water in Vietnam
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An #El Niño-induced drought in Vietnam has left one million people in urgent need of food assistance and two million people lacking access to drinking water, Europe’s humanitarian aid agency said.
The country’s worst drought in 90 years coupled with seawater intrusion into the Mekong River delta have destroyed fruit, rice and sugar crops in the world’s third-largest rice exporter after India and Thailand.
“The disruption in precipitation patterns has affected the livelihoods, food security and access to safe water of the people of Vietnam,” Christos Stylianides, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and crisis management, said in a statement.
El Nino is an abnormal warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific that occurs once every three to four years.
A strong El Nino would normally cause drought in wide swathes of Southeast Asia, with Indonesia and the Philippines bearing the brunt of the drought. The 2015/16 El NIno is the worst since the 1997/98 edition, which just happens to be the worst Nino in recorded history.
The EU’s humanitarian arm ECHO said it would provide €2 million (US$2.3 million) in funding for emergency relief.
his EU contribution will help provide life-saving assistance to affected families at this critical time, ensuring that their basic needs are met,” Stylianides said.
Saltwater has encroached up the Mekong Delta up to 25 kms further than average years, the ECHO statement said.
“Although the government had taken preparedness measures and launched some initiatives in anticipation, the scale of the current disaster has become much worse than initially foreseen, surpassing the local capacity to respond,” the statement said.
Weather forecasters have warned of the possibility of a La Nina weather event, the opposite of El Nino, which could bring intense monsoon rains to Vietnam and other countries in Southeast Asia in the second half of 2016.
Aside from rice, Vietnam is the second biggest producer of coffee in the world.
Vietnam hit by worst 90 years droughts.
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| A man feeds shrimps at a farm in Vietnam's Mekong delta province of Ben Tre |
Vietnam is suffering its worst drought in nearly a century with salinisation hitting farmers especially hard in the crucial southern Mekong delta, experts said Monday (Mar 1).
"The water level of the Mekong River has gone down to its lowest level since 1926, leading to the worst drought and salinisation there," Nguyen Van Tinh, deputy head of the hydraulics department under the Ministry of Agriculture, told AFP.
The low-lying and heavily cultivated Mekong region is home to more than 20 million people and is the country's rice basket. Intensive cultivation and rising sea levels already make it one of the world's most ecologically sensitive regions.
Scientists blame the ongoing 2015-2016 El Nino weather phenomenon, one of the most powerful on record, for the current drought. Water shortages have also hampered agriculture in nearby Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
Le Anh Tuan, a professor of climate change at the University of Can Tho in the heart of the Mekong region, said as much as 40-50 percent of the 2.2 million hectares (5.4 million acres) of arable land in the delta had been hit by salinisation.
"We do not have any specific measures to mitigate the situation," Tuan told AFP, adding that residents had been urged to save water for domestic rather than agricultural use.
Vietnam's communist rulers have announced US$3.8 million of financial assistance for affected areas.
The nation is the world's second largest exporter of rice and coffee, two crops that are particularly vulnerable to drought. Severe cold and drought hit Vietnam's lucrative coffee industry in 2013 and 2014.
Vietnam's rice yields have nearly quadrupled since the 1970s, official figures show, thanks to high-yield strains and the construction of a network of dykes that today allow farmers to grow up to three crops per year.
02-03-16
Vietnam hit by worst drought in nearly a century
Agriculture in the country has been badly affected by the lack of rainfall in recent months.
Months of below average rainfall have conspired to produce the worst drought in Vietnam in the best part of 100 years. It has been reported that the Mekong River is at its lowest level since 1926.
The ongoing El Nino weather pattern is thought to be the main cause of the lack of rainfall affecting the country.
Vietnam is not alone in suffering drought. Neighbouring Cambodia, and Laos, as well as Thailand and Myanmar have been experiencing water shortages as a result of the weather phenomenon.
Vietnam's need for water is partly driven by its high reliance on agriculture as a source of income. The country is the world's second largest producer of coffee and rice, both high users of water. In addition, coffee is vulnerable to frosts and cold weather. In both 2013 and 2014 severe cold reduced the yield of the coffee crop.
The Mekong Delta has been worst affected by the lack of rainfall. The area has 2.2 million hectares of arable land. According to Le Anh Tuan, professor of climate change at Can Tho University, as much as 40 to 50 percent of this land has been hit by salinisation.
As water availability decreases, salinity from irrigation tends to increase. All water contains dissolved salts; when plants have absorbed the water, they leave behind the salts which accumulate. Over time, increasing salinity makes it difficult for plants to absorb soil moisture, and these salts can only be removed by the roots of the plants by the application of additional water.
"We do not have any specific measures to mitigate the situation," Tuan told the AFP news agency. He added that residents had been asked to save water for domestic rather than agricultural use.
The country's government has announced the equivalent of $3.8m of financial assistance for affected areas.
In the Delta's Tien Giang Province an additional 141 public taps have been installed to provide water for up to 9,000 households affected by drought and salinisation during the dry season, which usually persists until April.
13-01-16
Dammed if they don’t: Mekong countries face crucial choice today!
This region is among the world's most vulnerable to climate change impacts. Fish harvests, for instance, are already declining due partly to drought in Cambodia's Tonlé Sap Lake, which supplies the country's 15 million people with more than a third of their protein. The Mekong Delta and its rich agricultural lands are also under grave threat from rising sea levels, storm inundation and their vulnerability to extreme weather.
Climate change in the region is a threat multiplier thanks to unsustainable hydroelectric dams, dozens of which are planned along the lower Mekong River and its tributaries. Two of the most controversial - the Xayaburi and Don Sahong dams in Laos - are now under construction, while dozens more are at the planning stage. It's troubling because, while hydropower is promoted as a CO2 emissions-free "green" energy, a wealth of research now indicates that in reality it is anything but green. By blocking fish migrations, the proposed projects would pose a direct threat to food security by reducing the catch from the world's largest freshwater fishery by as much as one third. Rice production could face a similar impact through the blockage of nutrient-rich sediments.
In short, the increased energy security afforded by hydropower comes at far too high a cost in terms of food insecurity, lost livelihoods, ecosystem degradation and increased exposure to the hazards of climate change. Solar and wind power - available and increasingly cheaper - along with reforestation projects, are far better ways for countries to meet their climate commitments.
Making matters worse, recent peer-reviewed research indicates that large hydroelectric dams not only fail to mitigate climate change, they actually help drive it. They do this in two ways: first, by impairing the roles that free-flowing rivers play as sinks that remove an estimated 200 million tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere annually, and second, by being responsible for emissions of methane - a greenhouse gas 34 times more potent than CO2 - from the rotting vegetation trapped under the reservoirs they create. These dams are also causing subsistence of the Mekong Delta and erosion of its coastline, thus making it even more vulnerable to a climate-change-induced rise in sea level and the increase in frequency and power of storms.
The good news is that there is already a mechanism in place to facilitate regional cooperation on sustainable development of the Mekong: the Mekong River Commission (MRC). Its next meeting takes place today in Phnom Penh, where the water ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam have gathered to discuss the challenges that should unite their countries yet in some cases have divided them.
The bad news is that the Mekong Agreement, the landmark treaty that created the Commission, was signed 20 years ago when most governments had yet to even take note of climate change. But two decades on, this groundbreaking example of regional cooperation is showing its age. Strained by procedural and regulatory disputes over the downstream impacts of large dams, the MRC is not ready to meet the challenge posed by loss of its wild fisheries and the sinking and shrinking of its delta, which, combined with the aggravating impacts of climate change, will have profound and irreversible consequences for the region.
While it remains an invaluable tool for regional cooperation, the Mekong Agreement needs to be refurbished for the 21st century. Fortunately a tailor-made solution already exists - one Vietnam recognized in 2014 when it became the first, and so far only, member of the MRC to ratify the UN Convention on the Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (UNWC).
Passed by the UN General Assembly in 1997, the UNWC codifies the basic principles and best practices of international water law and was written specifically to reinforce - not replace - existing river basin accords such as the Mekong Agreement. Nothing in it supplants, nullifies or contradicts any of the latter's provisions.
So what's the value added? First, the UNWC would provide a mechanism and clear guidelines for dispute resolution - the present lack of which is a major weakness of the MRC. Second, it would clarify existing rules and procedures whose vague wording encourages conflicting interpretations that strain relations among the MRC states, especially over consultations about hydroelectric dams and their downstream impacts. Unlike the Mekong Agreement, it also applies the same rules to mainstream and tributary dams - closing a contentious loophole. By aligning the Mekong Agreement with internationally accepted law, the UNWC would not change the rules so much as hold the MRC members to a higher standard of accountability in following them.
Ratification of the UNWC by Laos, Cambodia and Thailand would not automatically guarantee that misguided projects are abandoned. But it would raise the bar and help reduce tensions by obliging all MRC states to more carefully examine the trade-offs involved and give greater consideration to more viable "green" energy alternatives, based on the best criteria available.
At COP 21 in Paris, the world's governments finally resolved to confront climate change. The MRC ministers need to show the same resolve now in addressing climate-related water issues. As they meet in Phnom Penh, they must look beyond narrow national self-interests and see that a river-be-damned strategy is not the way to a prosperous and climate-safe future for the 60 million people of the Mekong.
Marc Goichot advises the World Wildlife Fund on water and energy-security issues in the Greater Mekong region. The opinions expressed are his own.
13-01-16Upstream dams blamed for shrinking Mekong Delta
Vietnam may lose 40 percent of the Mekong Delta to rising sea levels in the next century, officials and experts said during a conference held Monday and Tuesday in Ho Chi Minh City.
Those losses could be even worse if nations along the river continue to aggressively pursue plans to dam the river.
“There has never been a time when the Mekong Delta faces so many challenges, including the negative impacts of climate change and sea level rise, as well as pressure from unsustainable socio-economic development,” Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Minh Quang said at the Mekong Delta Forum.
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| A farmer harvesting rice in the Mekong Delta. Photo: Chi Nhan |
Professor Dao Xuan Hoc of the Water Resources University also said that human interventions to the flow of the Mekong River are taking their toll.
“Vietnam's downstream communities have already suffered from damage caused by salinization and erosion brought on by upstream dams,” he said at Monday's conference in Ho Chi Minh City.
The Mekong River, which is second only to the Amazon in terms of biodiversity, flows for over 4,800 km (3,045 miles) through six countries, and supports over 80 million people.
China has built seven dams along the upstream Mekong and has planned or is building 20 others.
Laos and Cambodia have plans for another 11, including the US$3.8-billion Xayaburi, which Laos began building in 2012.
During the recent forum, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai underscored the delta's importance to the development of the whole of southern Vietnam and the country as a whole.
“The Mekong Delta supports 27 percent of Vietnam's GDP, 90 percent of its rice exports and 60 percent of fishery exports. However, the region is facing enormous challenges related to water resources, salinization and other negative impacts of climate change.”
Experts have warned that climate change could raise temperature by 2-3 degrees Celsius and sea level by one meter in Vietnam by the year 2100.
In addition to the loss of nearly half the Mekong Delta, experts predict warn that climate change could permanently reclaim 11 percent of the Red River Delta and 20 percent of Ho Chi Minh City.
Victoria Kwakwa, the World Bank Country Director to Vietnam, stressed the importance of specific concrete actions, including strengthening coordination among local agencies and authorities in the Mekong Delta.
11-01-16
El Nino is back and may be stronger than ever
The latest cyclical warming of Pacific Ocean waters, first observed centuries ago and formally tracked since 1950, began earlier this year and already has been felt across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Weather experts predict this El Nino will continue into the spring of 2016 and could wreak havoc, because climate change is likely to exacerbate the intensity of storms and flooding in some places and of severe drought and water shortages in others.
El Nino’s impacts are global, with heavy rain and severe flooding expected in South America and scorching weather and drought conditions likely in the Horn of Africa region.
The risk is especially great for East Asia-Pacific countries that are highly vulnerable to altered weather patterns because of climate change. This year will likely be the hottest ever recorded, increasing the El Nino effect caused by weakened trade winds that fail to push warmer Pacific Ocean waters to the west.
We know what the potential effects might be. In 1997 and 1998, the strongest El Nino on record led to the deaths of 23,000 people from natural disasters, increased poverty rates by 15 percent in some countries and cost governments up to $45 billion due to severe storms, droughts and other effects.
Such a global challenge calls for a global response – with coordinated efforts by governments, international institutions such as the World Bank, relief agencies and communities – to minimize the death and destruction from natural catastrophes while building more resilient societies.
The good news is that we have learned from past experience how to better predict, prepare and respond. We now know that disaster risk management and early warning systems can provide forecasts and data that reduce death tolls and economic losses from severe weather.
These achievements show that building resilient and adaptable societies is the most effective strategy for challenges such as El Nino. Instead of limiting our approach to the specific challenge of El Nino, we should continue to support investments in sustainable growth and building resilience to the changing climate.
In our recent East Asia-Pacific Economic Update, the World Bank Group warned that failing to anticipate El Nino’s impacts can have serious economic development repercussions for the region. Food shortages, wildfires and depleted water resources are likely in some areas, and torrential rains in other areas can cause flooding and human migration.
An El Nino typically leads to higher demand for polluting energy sources like coal and crude oil, because hydropower generation declines due to high heat and drought. Drought and flood can also spark outbreaks of diseases from contaminated water and reduced hygiene as well as mosquito-borne viruses like dengue.
In the Philippines, the government predicts 80 percent of the country will likely experience drought by February 2016, while farmers in parts of Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia already are leaving fields and rice paddies unplanted due to excessively dry and hot conditions.
Meanwhile, the lowest rainfall levels since 1951 left more than 230,000 people in China’s Liaoning province short of drinking water in July. This summer, Myanmar experienced severe flooding and landslides that displaced more than 1.6 million people.
Pacific islanders also face water shortages, because a lack of rainfall threatens freshwater sources in societies mostly dependent on agriculture. Water shortage can have serious health implications, with increased risk of disease outbreak.
At the World Bank Group, we stand ready to help countries with a proactive strategy that includes technical assistance and monitoring and mitigation tools, such as early-warning systems and post-disaster needs assessments and mobilizing financing, which governments can tap into shortly after disasters hit.
For example, in the last three years, we helped Samoa, Tonga, and Vanuatu assess the impact of destructive cyclones to assist reconstruction efforts. And in 2014, the Philippines used a new financing mechanism developed by the World Bank – Catastrophe-Deferred Drawdown Option – to quickly respond to severe Tropical Storm Sendong, also known as Washi.
In the 1997-1998 El Nino, the World Bank Group provided emergency loans to help many countries restore infrastructure and productivity in sectors such as transport, flood control, health, agriculture, and energy. We also helped countries strengthen early-warning systems and risk management capacities.
Now, as we get ready to confront an El Nino that could be one of the strongest on record, it’s time for us to mobilize a unified response to protect the development gains of recent decades for people in East Asia Pacific.
Editor's note: Axel van Trotsenburg is the World Bank Vice President for East Asia Pacific. The article is written in the context of the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris. The opinions expressed are his own.
15-10-15
El Nino could make Southeast Asia haze worst on record
The haze currently engulfing much of Southeast Asia is likely to be the costliest weather-related disaster of 2015.
Much of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand have been affected by poor visibility in recent months. The haze is a direct result of forest fires raging in Indonesia. These are largely deliberately lit as a quick and easy method to clear land for agriculture. Peat forests, too wet to burn quickly, tend to smoulder, resulting in three times as much smoke as a typical forest fire.
Warmer ocean may be releasing frozen methane
Warming ocean temperatures a third of a mile below the surface, in a dark ocean in areas with little marine life, might attract scant attention. But this is precisely the depth where frozen pockets of methane 'ice' transition from a dormant solid to a powerful greenhouse gas.
Click on: Methane plumes.
Just a few weeks after tropical storm VAMCO made landfall in Vietnam Typhoon Mujigae threatens the North of Vietnam.
Typhoon Mujiigae
14-09-15
Tropical storm VAMCO this afternoon in Danang!
Havoc in Danang
14-09-15
Tropical stormVAMCO on it's way to Central Vietnam.
VAMCO
The first 'direct hit' tropical depression & storm is heading to Hoi An. It is expected to arrive at Monday as tropical storm.
Tropical depression & storm 19
04-09-2015
Three category 4 hurricanes developed in the Pacific simultaneously for the first time in recorded history
Eric Blake, a specialist with the National Hurricane Center tweeted on Saturday: “Historic central/eastern Pacific outbreak- 3 major hurricanes at once for the first time on record!” It is also the first time three storms larger than a category 3 have appeared in those basins at the same time. The tweet was accompanied with a rather ominous gif of Kilo, Ignacio and Jimena brewing in the Pacific, each with maximum wind speeds of 130-156 mph.
NOAA’s Central Pacific Hurricane Center knew in May that we could expect an above normal season in the Central Pacific Basin this year.
“For 2015, the outlook calls for a 70% chance of an above-normal season, a 25% chance of a near-normal season, and a 5% chance of a below-normal season. We expect 5 to 8 tropical cyclones to affect the central Pacific this season. An average season has 4-5 tropical cyclones, which include tropical depressions, tropical storms, and hurricanes,” according to a press release published at the time.
The group attributes this season to El Niño’s decreasing the vertical wind shear over the tropical central Pacific, resulting in an increase of stronger tropical cyclones. NOAA adds that “El Niño also favors more westward-tracking storms from the eastern Pacific into the central Pacific. This combination typically leads to an above-normal Central Pacific hurricane season.”
Climate change and El Niño make formidable foes for the rest of us. In his most recent post on Medium, McKibben says of President Obama’s visit to the Arctic, where he has authorized Shell to dig for yet more oil:
“Now, presidents can’t do everything physics demands on climate change. For one thing, Republicans get in the way. And for another we obviously can’t shut down all use of fossil fuels overnight, though in terms of climate change that would be smart. All we can do is move as quickly as possible towards a renewable future. Which is precisely why we shouldn’t even consider opening up a vast new pool of oil, one that we won’t even be able to tap for 10 or 20 years. When you’re in a hole the first rule is stop digging — and yet we’ve just given Shell a giant shovel.”
24-08-15
Tropical Depression Nando
Tropical Depression Nando has formed east of the Philippines Sunday. This new storm system is not expected to become a full blown typhoon, but it does pose a high risk of bringing heavy rainfall across all of the Philippines including the Manila area and surrounding provinces through mid-week and good give some unstaible weather in Vietnam.
22-08-15
Western Pacific tropical cyclone activity sees record
Tropical cyclone activity in the western North Pacific Ocean basin continues at a record pace this year, a leading atmospheric scientist said Monday.
According to Dr. Phil Klotzbach, lead author of tropical season forecasts at Colorado State University, the ACE (Accumulated Cyclone Energy) index of 257 units through Aug. 17 shatters the previous record active start to the year set in 2002 of about 227 units.
(MORE: Twin Typhoons)
These ACE index values in the western North Pacific Ocean are more than two and a half times the year-to-date average, and exceeds those from all of 2014 (254), according to Dr. Ryan Maue, atmospheric scientist at WeatherBell, who tracks global ACE index values.
Tracks of all 2015 northwest Pacific named storms through August 21.
Seventeen storms, 12 of which reached typhoon (equivalent to hurricane) status, have flared up so far in 2015 in the northwest Pacific basin. This includesTyphoon Halola, which migrated westward from the central Pacific basin.
Maysak, Noul, Dolphin,Nangka, Soudelor and Atsani – hit super typhoon status, with maximum estimated sustained winds topping 150 mph.
When adding the eastern North Pacific basin,Klotzbach said the 12 Category 4 or 5 tropical cyclones this year through Tuesday, Aug. 18, set a year-to-date record for the Northern Hemisphere, smashing the previous record of seven such intense tropical cyclones tied in 2014, according to records dating to 1971.
Klotzbach said the previous earliest date this occurred -- 12 Category 4 or 5 northern hemisphere tropical cyclones -- was on September 13. Incredibly, three-quarters of all Northern Hemisphere hurricanes or typhoons so far in 2015 have been at least Category 4 strength, according to Klotzbach.
This is impressive since the Atlantic basin had yet to produce a single hurricane, much less one of that intensity.
The Pacific tropical activity can be attributed, in part, to impressively warm ocean water.
"The high ACE values we've seen in the northeast and northwest Pacific basins are consistent with El Nino," Klotzbach said in early June.
El Nino is an anomalous, yet periodic, warming of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. For reasons still not well understood, every 2 to 7 years, this patch of ocean warms for a period of 6 to 18 months.
(MORE: Strong El Nino Likely | Atlantic Season Outlook)
The eastern Pacific basin typically sees an increase in named storms during a moderate to strong El Nino thanks to diminished vertical wind shear.
The opposite is true in the Atlantic basin, since wind shear tends to increase in a moderate to strong El Nino, particularly in the Caribbean Sea.
05-08-15
Depressions to directly affect Vietnam this year: forecast center
The warning was released on Thursday by the center’s director, Hoang Duc Cuong, at a conference held by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment on measures for disaster prevention and control in 2015.
The U.S.’s Climate Prediction Center (CPC) has said that El Nino, which refers to the warming of the central to eastern tropical Pacific that occurs every two to seven years on average, has officially begun.
Many major climate study centers have forecast that El Nino is likely to last until fall or winter this year with a 60-percent probability, according to Radio the Voice of Vietnam.
Many major climate study centers have forecast that El Nino is likely to last until fall or winter this year with a 60-percent probability, according to Radio the Voice of Vietnam.
“Under the impacts of El Nino, the East Vietnam Sea will face about nine storms and depressions this year, less than the annual average of 12 in the past many years,” Cuong said, adding that Vietnam’s mainland will be hit by three or four of these.
He also said plans to cope with powerful storms will be considered this year.
In the past, such typhoons as Linda in 1997, Xangsane in 2006, and Ketsana in 2009 caused great damage to central and southern Vietnam, he added.
Due to the El Nino phenomenon, this year rainfall in Vietnam, especially in the central region, will be 25-50 percent less than the average rate in the past many years, Cuong said.
Meanwhile, average monthly temperatures in most localities in Vietnam this year will be higher than those in the past, he said.
He also said plans to cope with powerful storms will be considered this year.
In the past, such typhoons as Linda in 1997, Xangsane in 2006, and Ketsana in 2009 caused great damage to central and southern Vietnam, he added.
Due to the El Nino phenomenon, this year rainfall in Vietnam, especially in the central region, will be 25-50 percent less than the average rate in the past many years, Cuong said.
Meanwhile, average monthly temperatures in most localities in Vietnam this year will be higher than those in the past, he said.
El Nino poses negative impacts on Vietnam’s weather!
Vietnam could bear the brunt of severe effects from the El Nino phenomenon which could last until the end of this year and have a harsh impact on global weather patterns.
Vietnam coal exports grapple with El Nino year Vietnam to be severely affected by El Nino In the past, typhoons such as Linda in 1997, Xangsane in 2006 and Ketsana in 2009 caused substantial damage to southern and central parts of Vietnam.
The El Nino phenomenon causes the average rainfall in Vietnam, especially in the central region, to drop 25-50% and the average monthly temperatures to rise.
River current strength in central and Central Highlands regions reduces by at least 10% and could plunge 50-60% in strong El Nino years.
According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, weather and hydrometeorology in Vietnam has seen abnormal developments in the first six months of this year as a result of El Nino effects.
For example, tropical storm Kujira in the East Sea hit northern Hai Phong and Quang Ninh cities, resulting in downpours in northern and central northern localities.
A severe cold spell in the north in early January caused rare snow rain in Sa Pa city of Lao Cai province. Meanwhile, a large-scale heat spell raged through central region from Thanh Hoa to Quang Nam provinces.
Vietnam reported over 17 hail storms, whirlwinds, and thunderstorms since the beginning of the year that caused huge material and human losses.
Water shortages have occurred in central coastal provinces, Central Highlands and south eastern regions.
Under El Nino, Vietnam is likely to face about nine storms and depressions in the East Sea this year, less than the annual average of 12 in the past many years, of which three or four will directly impact the country’s mainland (previously 5-6).
From now to September 2015, the temperature will be 0.5-1.0 degree Celsius higher than previous years and rainfall in central provinces could be lower than that of previous years.
Meanwhile, the water level of rivers across the central and Central Highlands region could reduce 30-60% from the previous years’ averages. Water levels could dip 60-95% lower than normal in south central provinces.
Water shortages and drought in the central region will last until mid September, especially in Quang Tri, Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa and Ninh Thuan provinces while salt intrusion is expected to encroach deeper in the river mouths and coastal areas.
June 2015
The El Nino weather phenomenon could further affect Vietnam, with hot spells to last another two months in the central region while the storm season may arrive later than usual with more powerful typhoons, the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper cited latest state forecasts as saying.
El Nino has delayed the arrival of the rainy season to some areas in Vietnam's southern region for about a month while hot spells lasted longer in May and so far this month, the report said.
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