Southern Vietnam escapes blazing heat

A two-hour downpour in HCM City and in some southern provinces on May 22 marked the start of the rainy season, easing the prolonged sweltering weather.

The downpour caused floods in some places in HCM City. It also made thousands of salt fields in the delta’s coastal areas melt away.

A senior expert from the Southern Region Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre, Le Thi Xuan Lan, remarked that this downpour officially kicked off the rainy season in HCM City and the southwestern provinces. The rainy season officially began in other southwestern provinces on May 21.

As of that day forward, rain will come every afternoon and the average temperature in the south will drop to 33-35oC.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting reported that a weak cold front would overflow and cool northern Vietnam down on May 23. Highest temperatures would slide to around 30 Celsius degrees. The cold front, coming at the end of the hot season, would cause thunderstorms and tornados.

The cold front is also forecast to push a low pressure ridge in the northern area further to the southern region.

As a result, central and southern provinces would continue suffering scorching weather with temperatures hovering around 38-40 degrees over the next few days.

PV