The 4^th tropical storm in the East Sea, internationally named Higos, made landfall on south coast of China’s Guangdong Province in the morning of 19 August, Viet Nam's National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting has said.

The expected track of the storm (Source: The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting)

At 7am today, 19 August, the storm was positioned at latitude 22°3'N and longitude 112°9'E, on the south coast of China’s Guangdong Province. In the path of the storm, wind speeds generally exceeded 80 kph, with strong gusts of up to 100kph near its centre.

Over the next 24 hours, the tropical storm will move in the west- northwest direction with a speed of 20 km/ hour, and then weaken into a tropical depression.

By 7.00am tomorrow, 20 August, the depression’s centre will be at latitude 24°1'N and longitude 108°0'E, on the northwestern part of China’s Guangxi Province, with wind speeds decreasing to 40-50kph.

It will continue moving in the west direction with a speed of 20 km/ hour in the next 24 to 48 hours, and it will continue weakening to a remnant low-pressure area.

Due to the strong influence of the 4^th storm, some Vietnamese northern mountainous and midlands are bracing for gale-force winds and torrential downpours, and possible landslides and flash floods.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese central coastal localities from Quang Binh to Quang Ngai provinces, including Da Nang, are likely to see scattered moderate to heavy showers, and winds from the southwest at level 2-3. In addition, whirlwinds, lightning and thunderstorms are possible in these localities at night. Temperatures will be down into 25 and 30 degrees Celsius in these localities.

According to the Da Nang Border Guard Command, 89 fishing vessels from the city, with a total of 755 crew members, are operating at sea, but none of them are in dangerous waters.

By HOANG HIEP, TTDBKTTVQG - Translated by M.D