The South China Sea is likely to experience a storm next week.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting stated that conditions suitable for the formation of a tropical cyclone are currently present off the coast of the Philippines.

Forecasts indicate that the South China Sea will experience storms/tropical depressions during the last week of September.

Speaking with a VietNamNet reporter , the head of the forecasting center said that, according to current analysis and forecast data (September 22), around September 24-25, a low-pressure area is highly likely to form in the central part of the East Sea, causing bad weather.

The South China Sea is likely to experience typhoons/tropical depressions in the last week of September. (Illustration: Le Duong)

"Around September 25-26, the low-pressure area is forecast to potentially strengthen into a tropical depression/storm. The probability of this forming is 60-70%," the leader stated.

Therefore, a warning was issued from the afternoon of September 24th that strong winds of level 6 and rough seas are likely to occur in the East Sea area (including the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos).

"The meteorological and hydrological agency will closely monitor and update information in the coming days," the head of the center emphasized.

Recently, Dr. Huy Nguyen, an expert on climate change and natural disaster warning, also stated that an unusual cloud cluster is currently developing in the eastern part of central Philippines. This thunderstorm cluster is moving in two directions, creating a slight vortex in place while also shifting from southeast to northwest, and the atmospheric pressure in this area is lower than in the surrounding region.

This trend, combined with the very high sea surface temperatures (30-31 degrees Celsius) in the eastern Philippines and the South China Sea off Vietnam, will create conditions for the formation of tropical depressions, and the possibility of typhoons cannot be ruled out. Therefore, the weather in the South China Sea off Vietnam may experience significant fluctuations from September 25th to the end of September and the first week of October.

"Since this is an early assessment, it cannot be confirmed whether a storm will form or not. We need to monitor the forecast of adverse weather conditions along Vietnam's coast and nearshore areas from September 25th to October 7th," said Dr. Huy.

Previously, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting also predicted that during the period from September 21st to October 20th, the tropical convergence zone would continue to be active and there was a possibility of 1-2 typhoons or tropical depressions appearing in the East Sea area, which could affect the Northern and North Central regions of Vietnam.

Looking further ahead, from now until the end of 2023, there is a possibility of 3-5 typhoons/tropical depressions appearing in the East Sea, of which about 1-2 may directly affect the mainland of Vietnam.

This year, due to the influence of El Nino conditions, the number of typhoons/tropical depressions active in the East Sea and affecting Vietnam's mainland is lower than the multi-year average. However, the typhoons active in the East Sea all have very complex and unpredictable trajectories and intensities.

Source