The Mau Son mountaintop in the northeastern province of Lang Son saw snow for the second time this year on Friday, as a cold front moved in dropping the temperature to minus degrees Celsius.
The Mau Son mountaintop, which is 1,500 meters above sea level in the Loc Binh District, experienced strong chilly winds with frost.
Vu Xuan Lam, a hotel staff member from the Mau Son tourist site, said that since early Friday morning, the trees in the forest were coated with layers of ice and snow.
A Dao ethic minority woman named Trieu Thi Toan, in Co Lac Village, from the Mau Son Commune, said that it was so cold that all water sources in her home ‘froze over’ and she had to boil ice, in order to get drinking water.
In addition, the Loc Binh District electricity department cut power from the Mau Son Commune, because the icy condition could cause damage to the eclectic power cables.
On Friday, many people went to Mau Son Mountain to see the snow. This is the second time the mountain has experience such a snowfall, the first time was on December 16.
Luu Minh Hai, deputy director of the Lao Cai Province Hydro Meteorological Center, said the temperature on O Quy Ho mountain pass, near Sa Pa town, remained low at only 4.5 degrees Celsius. Lao Cai might experience ice and snow for the next two to three days, he said.
Le Thanh Hai, deputy director of the National Hydro Meteorological Forecasting Center, said that the entire northern and central provinces have been engulfed in extremely cold weather, due to a cold front.
The temperature has plunged down to 1 degree Celsius, in Mu Cang Chai District, Yen Bai northern mountainous province. In other places in the region, the temperature was only 4-7 degrees Celsius.
The coming cold front that is forecast to blanket the northern region on Sunday will result in much colder weather, with more ice and snow on the way.
