The temperature in the southern region of Vietnam has dropped dramatically, especially at night and early morning, as the latest cold spell from the north is moving southwards, according to the National Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting Center.

In Ho Chi Minh City, the temperature has dropped to 18-19 degrees Celsius, the lowest in the last 10 years while that in neighboring localities is hovering around 17-20 degrees Celsius.

According to the center, the temperature will pick up to 21.1 degrees Celsius on the last day of 2013 (December 31), the same rate recorded in HCMC in 2004.

This range of the temperatures can be maintained or may reduce by 0.5 - 1 degree Celsius in the coming days, while there will be thick fog in the morning in HCMC and other southern localities.

The cool weather will last until the New Year’s Day, then get a little warmer until January 5-6, 2014 when a new wave of cold spell kicks in.

Although the temperature in the southern region has dropped so low, it is still 3 - 4 degrees Celsius higher compared to record figures.

Specifically, the lowest temperature ever in Phuoc Long District in Binh Phuoc Province and in HCMC is 13 degrees Celsius and 16.4 degrees Celsius in January 1993 and December 1999, respectively.

Meanwhile, a record low temperature is still blanketing the northern provinces with temperatures ranging from 5 to 10 degrees Celsius. It dropped to 1.6-5.3 degrees Celsius in the mountainous region, especially in Mau Son (1.6 degrees C) and Sapa (2.7 degrees C).

Two weeks ago, the temperature in Sapa dropped to below zero, causing heavy snowfall that triggered a traffic jam spanning nearly 5 km on a mountain pass in the northern province of Lao Cai. An estimated loss of VND15 billion (US$711,068) to vegetables and cattle in the area was recorded.