Mount Fansipan, the highest peak of Vietnam, was buried under half a meter of snow on Tuesday morning, while local temperatures dropped to as low as minus three degrees Celsius, according to Nguyen Xuan Chien, director of the tourism complex Sun World Fansipan Legend in northern Lao Cai Province.

“We did not expect snowfall right before the Lunar New Year, but the snowing has been going on since [Monday]," Chien said.

"As we saw it [on Tuesday morning], several places were 60 centimeters under snow.”

The Sun World Fansipan Legend will still be open through the Lunar New Year holiday for those who want to catch a glimpse of snowfall on cable cars, he noted.

Mercury on Mount Fansipan will swing between minus six degrees to four degrees Celsius, with snow to stack up 50-60 centimeters and chances of sleet during the next five days, according to forecast website Weather.com.

Meanwhile, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting anticipated sustained impacts of a cold front on northern and central Vietnam on Tuesday, with chances of thunderstorms, hail, and strong winds to ensue.

On Sunday evening and Monday morning, torrential rains, thunderstorms, and hail blew off the roofs of 34 households in Sin Ho and Nam Nhun Districts of northern Lai Chau Province, according to a report from the municipal Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control, Search and Rescue.

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