Several areas in the Northern region faced severe cold wave conditions and even received a heavy snowfall on Wednesday.
|Heavy snowfall in Northern Vietnam on Wednesday (Photo: Thanh Nien)|
Along the O Quy Ho Mountain Pass in Sa Pa town of Lao Cai Province and in the adjacent areas of Lai Chau Province, the snowfall was about 3-5cms thick and in places it was even up to 10-20cms.
Schools in Sa Pa town shut down and residents stayed indoor.
Snow fell steadily till about 10am when it temporarily stopped falling till about 4pm. It again intensified in the evening.
Along the 4D Highway, thick snow covered 30-40cms of the road causing traffic to come to a standstill. Hundred of trucks, buses and motorbikes broke down on the highway.
Meanwhile, many visitors chose to travel to this area to see the snowfall. The Lao Cai Province had to mobilize bulldozers to clear the roads.
According to Luu Minh Hai, director of the Hydro Meteorological Center in Lao Cai Province, they have never seen a snowfall in March up in the North only during December to February.
The Dong Van Stone Plateau in Ha Giang Province also had nearly three hours of snowfall and temperatures dropped to minus 4 degrees Celsius.
Communes like Lung Cu, Sa Phin, Lung Thin and Thai Phin Tung in Dong Van District were blanketed with snow and ice.
The snowfall also covered some mountain tops in Cao Bang Province.
The National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center said that the cold spell which had caused this severe cold weather in the Northern and Central regions would prevail for a couple of days more.
This cold wave over the last few days had caused the East Sea to turn very rough with wind gales of level 7-8 blowing at 50-72 kilometers an hour, according to the Central Highlands Flood and Storm Prevention Center on Wednesday.
The center is coordinating with local authorities to inform and guide boats operating on the East Sea to seek shelters.
Hundred of boats still remain in dangerous areas. Da Nang City reported 78 boats with over 700 fishermen and Quang Ngai reported 600 boats with 6,200 people still at sea.
Meanwhile, Thua Thien – Hue Province has maneuvered 95 boats with 670 people to safety.