Downpours, gales, whirlwinds, and lightning have wreaked havoc on many localities from May 19 - 21, including four deaths.

The northern and central regions began to experience a heat wave on April 24 which is forecast to reach its peak from April 25 - 27, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Intense cold is predicted to linger in the northern and north central regions for the next few days while whirlwinds, lightning, and strong gusts of wind are possible in the south central, Central Highlands, and southern regions.

Natural disasters have cost Vietnam’s northern mountainous areas about 610 billion VND (26.3 million USD) so far this year, compared to 753 billion VND last year.

Heavy rains and whirlwinds killed one person and injured eight others in the northern midland province of Phu Tho from May 8 night to early May 9.

Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has asked ministries and localities to keep a close watch on weather developments and take measures to deal with the consequences of downpours, whirlwinds, lightning and hail.

Hailstorms accompanied by whirlwinds and heavy rains wreaked havoc on some localities of the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang on April 22.

Lightning killed one person in Lao Cai after thunderstorm and hails hit the northern mountainous province from the evening of March 24 until in the early morning of the next day.

One person was killed in the northern mountainous province of Ha Giang while 14 others were injured in Ha Giang and Yen Bai provinces as of 16:00 on March 3, according to the central steering committee for natural disaster prevention.

The northern province of Yen Bai counted six people injured by whirlwinds and hails that hit it in the afternoon of March 2.

The Central Steering Committee on Natural Disaster Prevention and Control’s Office on August 6 reported that so far, Storm Wipha has claimed 10 lives and left 11 people missing, destroyed 91 houses and caused great property losses.

Heavy rainfall is expected to continue in the northern region and the central province of Thanh Hoa over the weekend, the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecast Centre has warned.

As of May 29, floods, whirlwinds, and landslides in Vietnam’s northern region killed two people and injured two others, while causing heavy property losses, according to the Office of the Central Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.

Northern localities are forecast to suffer heavy rains beginning on May 27 night, with rainfall expected to reach 200mm within a 24-hour period in some provinces, according to the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecast Centre.

The recent abnormal weather conditions have indicated that natural disasters will be unpredictable in the time ahead, according to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting.

Hailstones and whirlwinds struck northern provinces in the past few days, leaving one missing and three injured as well as causing initial damage of around 26 billion VND (1.12 million USD) as of 19:00 on February 18.

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysical Agency (BMKG) of Indonesia has warned of potential natural disasters such as floods, landslides and whirlwinds as the Southeast Asian country is entering the peak of the rainy season.

Hundreds of houses in the northern mountainous provinces of Dien Bien and Yen Bai were unroofed by whirlwinds on the late night of April 15.

Hailstones accompanied by whirlwinds rained down on many places in Muong Khuong district, the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai, in the early morning of April 15.

Several areas in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai were hit by hailstorms and whirlwinds during March 17-19.