Southern Vietnam to see heavy rains all week

HCMC and other southern localities are expected to experience heavy rains until this weekend following a combination of two low-pressure areas.

Due to the influence of a low-pressure trench off the south central coast combined with the tropical low-pressure region to the east of the Philippines, strong seasonal winds are expected to cause heavy rains across HCMC and the southern region, especially between Wednesday and Saturday, said Le Dinh Quyet, deputy head of the forecasting office under the Hydro-meteorological Observatory for the Southern Region.

The average volume of rainfall is forecast to reach 30-60 mm or more in 24 hours, with falling trees and flooding to be expected in certain areas of the city.

Southern Vietnam, including HCMC, is experiencing its annual rainy season, which normally lasts from late April to November. For years, HCMC has suffered flooding each time it rains heavily. In those cases, scenes of motorcyclists wading through water and cars stuck along the streets have become common sights.

Quyet ascribed the fog in HCMC on recent days to air humidity remaining at more than 93 percent as measured in Nha Be District early Monday morning.

High humidity in the air along with dust nucleus and salt crystals lay behind the fog, he confirmed, comparing the mechanism to the formation of clouds. As explained by NASA, clouds are created when water vapor, an invisible gas, turns into liquid water droplets. These water droplets form on tiny particles, like dust, that are floating in the air.

Quyet added this is a normal weather condition that has no significant impacts on human health, unlike the haze formed by ash from forest fires or air pollution.

How long the fog will lasts will depend on cloud and sunshine conditions. The more clouds and less sunshine, the longer it would remain and vice versa, he said.

By Ha An – VnExpress.net – September 14, 2020