Goni has weakened after hitting southern Luzon in the Philippines, and it entered the East Sea on Monday morning as a typhoon.

Storm Goni tracking map (Photo: NCHFM)

Goni made landfall on the south of the Philippines' main island of Luzon as a super typhoon on Sunday morning with maximum sustained winds of 225 kilometres per hour. At least 10 people died and three others were missing after Super Typhoon Goni which has been the world’s strongest storm so far this year.

Goni is expected to weaken to a tropical storm after moving over the East Sea and before hitting food-striken Central Viet Nam, Viet Nam's National Hydrology Meteorology Forecast Centre (NCHFM) said. Given the storm’s weakening, that is such sign of a bit relief to residents living in the storms-battered region.

The forecasters expect Goni will continue to weaken as it moves over land.

At 4.00am on Tuesday, 3 November, the centre of Goni will be located about 340km east-southeast of the Hoang Sa Archipelago with maximum sustained winds near the centre falling a bit to level 9, with a gust of level 11.

In the next 24 – 48 hours, Goni is racing westward at 15-20kph.

After crossing the Hoang Sa archipelago on Tuesday, the storm may change its course a bit due to the impact of a cold front moving the southward.

At 4.00am on Wednesday, 4 November, the storm is expected to reach the area of sea about 310km from Quang Nam, 240km from Quang Ngai and Binh Dinh, and about 260km from Phu Yen, with maximum sustained winds near the centre reaching at level 9, with a gale of level 12.

Goni could continue moving westward at 10kph, and forecast shows the storm making landfall anywhere from Da Nang to Phu Yen, and it is then likely weakened into a tropical depression, national weather forecasters said.

The storm is still far, there is a margin of error, and the movement of Goni is very complicated due to the impacts of different weather patterns. The public in central Viet Nam are urged to keep up with the latest Goni watches and warnings with NCHFM.

The forecasters say the storm could dump heavy rains onto mid-central localities from Da Nang to Quang Ngai in the coming hours. After that, the storm circulation interacting with a cold air front could continue bringing more soaking downpours to north central Viet Nam on 5 and 6 November.

Goni is one of the strongest storms to hit the Philippines since 2013's Haiyan, which killed more than 6,300 people. The weather bureau said another cyclone, tropical storm Atsani, had entered the country and could gain strength.

Goni is the 10^th storm to hit Vietnamese waters this year. There had been four tropical storms and one tropical depression in October, the same as in 1993 and the highest number in the country’s recorded meteorological history. Historic flooding and deadly landslides left at least 159 dead and 71 others missing in the central region last month.

By HOANG HIEP - Translated by A.T