Fresh cold snap to hit Hanoi, northern Vietnam next week A buffalo dies from the cold in Lao Cai Province, located in northern Vietnam. Tuoi Tre While the weather has become warmer in northern Vietnam on Friday, the region and Hanoi are expected to suffer another cold spell earlier next week, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said the same day. The cold front, forecast to hit Hanoi and northern localities on February 2, will create severely cold weather conditions there and possible snows in some mountainous areas, according to the center. Temperatures in Hanoi slightly increased on Friday, with the reading of 19 degrees Celsius at some points. The capital city has earlier experienced the coldest spell in nearly four decades. The new cold spell, accompanied by rains, is expected to start hammering the northern mountainous region on Sunday night, before reaching the northern and north-central regions, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting. The Tokin Gulf, as well as the north and central part of the East Vietnam Sea, including the Hoang Sa (Paracel) archipelago, is forecast to suffer rough seas and strong winds on the night of February 1. In the meantime, extreme wintry climate is expected to hit provinces from the north to Thua Thien-Hue Province in the central region, with average temperatures ranging from 13 to 15 degrees Celsius. The lowest temperatures during the time the region is hit by the cold snap are ten to 12 degrees Celsius, and four to seven degrees Celsius in mountainous areas. On February 2 and 3, the mountainous areas could have snows, with the lowest temperatures of two to three degrees Celsius. The northern region suffered from extreme wintry climate between January 23 and 28, with temperatures dropping dramatically, smashing several decades-long records in some areas. The Pha Din area in Dien Bien Province, for instance, saw temperature drop to 4.3 below zero degrees Celsius, way lower than the 1.2 below zero degrees recorded in December 1975. In the touristic town of Sa Pa in Lao Cai Province, temperature also dropped to 4.2 below zero degrees, compared to the 3.5 below zero degrees in March 1986. In Mau Son area in Lang Son Province, temperature set a new record low on January 24, with reading of five below zero degrees, whereas the previous lowest level was 3.2 below zero degrees in 2011. Such severely cold weather conditions have killed nearly 2,000 cattle in the northern mountainous areas, according to a January 27 report by the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control. TUOI TRE NEWS