The highest temperatures of summer 2010 will exceed 40 degrees, predicted National Hydro-meteorological Forecasting Centre Deputy Director Nguyen Lan Chau.

Hanoi’s Red River becomes exhausted.

“It is highly possible that April and May will have fiercely sunny spells in the north and central regions,” Chau noted.

Vietnam’s overall rainfall is forecast to be low, with rains in June through August in the north and center, while later in the Central Highlands. Heavy rains will be widespread, but of short duration.

“This is a latent factor in causing big floods, flash floods and landslide in the late summer,” Chau added.

Meanwhile, El Nino continues to break records in the 100-year history of Vietnam’s hydro-meteorological sector. The average temperature for January-March was 3 degrees higher than the average temperature of previous years, especially in the north.

The total northern rainfall from October 2009 was around 70-90 percent lower than average. Some places have not had any rain since last October, causing droughts and water shortages.

“Since October 2009, the water level in the Red-Thai Binh river system is always at record-low levels,” Chau observed. The same can be said for rivers in the central region, Central Highlands and southern areas, which has caused the deep infiltration of salt water into the Mekong Delta.

In many Mekong provinces like Tien Giang, Ben Tre, Tra Vinh, Soc Trang and Ca Mau, salt water has entered the mainland by dozens of kilometers, seriously harming crops and aquaculture.

Chau warned that “El Nino will work until the end of May, so the weather in the next several months will be complicated.” She added that La Nina often comes after El Nino, but this year the trend is not clear.

Other forecasters claim that 6-7 large storms will hit Vietnam in 2010. Last year 11 typhoons entered the South China Sea, some ravaging Vietnam’s central region, especially Typhoon Mirinae that killed over 120 people plus Typhoon Ketsana, which claimed 174 victims.

PV