The tropical depression moving in the East Vietnam Sea will probably upgrade into a storm by the early morning of Sunday and may head for Vietnam, the country’s central weather agency has forecast.

The depression that took shape east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island has entered the East Vietnam Sea and was centered in the northern part of the waters at 7:00 am Saturday, according to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting.  

Packing strong winds of up to 88 kph, the depression is moving west and northwest at 5-10 kph and may strengthen into a tropical storm soon.

At 7:00 am on Sunday, the anticipated storm will be seen about 800 km east and southeast off China’s Leizhou peninsula, with stronger winds reaching 102 kph.

Around 24 hours later, it will be 310 km east of Leizhou with winds surging to 118 kph and may get stronger, the center warned.

Over the following 48 hours, the storm will continue to be strengthened and move mainly west and northwest at 15 kph. 

There are two scenarios for the movement direction of the expected storm, Nguyen Van Huong, head of the center’s Weather Forecasting Department, said.

In the first scenario, with a probability of 50-60 percent, the storm will move northward and hit mainland China. In this case, the Vietnamese mainland will be less affected.

In the second scenario, the storm will move west towards Vietnam, bringing heavy rains to the country’s northern and north-central parts.

“These are quite far-fetched scenarios, so people need to follow updated forecasts in days to come,” Huong said.

Due to the effects of such a weather pattern, powerful winds and squalls amounting to 102 kph, and very rough seas with 2-4 meter high waves have been seen in the northeastern part of the East Vietnam Sea since Saturday morning.

The National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control on Friday evening requested local authorities from Quang Ninh to Phu Yen provinces to notify all vessels operating at sea of the anticipated storm’s latest developments so that they can take timely safety measures.

Authorities have also been required to make plans in place to safeguard all offshore economic activities and promptly deploy rescue forces when necessary.

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