As the biting cold is covering northern provinces this weekend, snow is falling quite heavily in Sa Pa, a resort town in Lao Cai Province, much to tourists’ delight.

Snow began flurrying in the beloved resort town around 12:30 am on Sunday, and fell intermittently and even thickened during the previous night. Vehicles, vegetation and roofs in the area were coated with blankets of snow. Temperatures kept plummeting and plunged to as low as minus two degrees Celsius at certain points. Delighted youths and tourists stayed awake all night to behold the whiteout and frolic in the snow.

A snow wave also hit Sa Pa in late December 2013, when the temperature there fell to two degrees Celsius in O Quy Ho and zero degree in the Nui Xe mountain area.
Icy mountain peak.

Meanwhile, residents in Ha Noi and other northern provinces have experienced freezing temperatures since Saturday morning as the northern and north-central regions were hit by the coldest spell of the winter-spring season the same day.

Temperatures dropped to minus 2.5   degrees Celsius atop Mau Son Mountain in Lang Son Province, which is typically the first locality in Viet Nam to experience the weather ice phenomenon.

Sunday (January 24) is forecast to be the coldest day in the northern region due to the ongoing cold front.
Weather forecasts showed that temperatures decreased to 1.6, 1.5 and 2.6 degrees Celsius in the UNESCO-recognized Dong Van Karst Plateau, Tam Dao, a scenic spot in Vinh Phuc Province, and Pha Din Pass in Dien Bien Province, respectively, as of 7:00 pm on Saturday.

Red Delta localities, including Ha Noi, also had seen falling temperatures range from 7.2 to 9.8 degrees Celsius as of 7:00 pm on Saturday.

The northern region is entirely embedded in the cold front on Sunday, with freezing temperatures to drop to below zero degree Celsius and ice and frost forecast to persist, weather forecasters said.

The ongoing cold snap has also triggered strong sea gusts, posing serious hazards to boats. The Tonkin Gulf and sea off central and southern provinces, the entire East Viet Nam Sea, including the waters around Viet Nam’s Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelagoes have packed winds of levels six to eight and seen rough seas.

The cold snap, forecast to last until Wednesday (January 27), has also greatly affected localities in the central region, causing temperatures to drop to 10.4 and 12.4 degrees Celsius in Vinh City, the heart of Nghe An Province, and Ha Tinh Province, respectively.

The cold front moving from the northern region may also reduce temperatures in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces to as low as 17-18 degrees Celsius this weekend and early next week, according to Le Thi Xuan Lan, a hydrometeorologist.

(Source: Tuoitrenews)