HÀ NỘI — A cold front approached the northern region late last night, dropping the temperature and causing scattered rain across the region.

The capital city of Hà Nội might see temperatures as low as 14-17 degrees Celsius, mostly in the early morning and late night.

The cold front is also generating strong winds in the northern seas. The Gulf of Tonkin will see gusts of force 6 or 7 (40-60km/h). Starting yesterday, waters off the coasts of the south-central and southern region experienced winds of force 7 or 8 (50-74km/h) and strong waves.

The central region provinces, in the early morning and likely the whole day, can expect moderate to heavy rainfall and possible thunderstorms.

La Nina returns

According to Hoàng Phúc Lâm, head of long-term weather forecasting, under the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, signs of the comeback of La Nina have appeared. Most obviously, the temperature of the Eastern Pacific’s surface waters has dropped 0.8 degrees Celsius lower than last year.

La Niñas, characterised by uncommonly cold ocean temperatures in the Equatorial Pacific, runs opposite to its counterpart, El Niño, characterised by warmer temperatures.

“In the last months of 2017 and the beginning of 2018, La Nina’s ocean-atmospheric patterns will emerge with 50-60 per cent certainty,” he said.

Thanks to this phenomenon, winter in the north this year will be colder than in the previous year, with January and February likely to be the “peak of extreme cold.” However, he also noted that the last winter was considered ‘warmer’ than average and that this winter’s temperatures will not differ too much than the average temperatures in many previous years.

Greater rainfall than average is expected in Việt Nam, the  East Sea (South China Sea), and around Southeast Asia.

However, he said, the La Nina weather pattern will not persist for long and will weaken around April-May next year. — VNS