Heavy rainfall, accompanied by hail in some areas, led to local flooding in certain parts of Ho Chi Minh City on Friday afternoon.

Following a sunny morning and a hot spell, heavy rains commenced around 3:00 pm in various areas of the city, accompanied by strong winds and thunder. 

Hailstones the size of chopstick heads were recorded in District 1 and District 4, while certain regions of neighboring Binh Duong Province reported the same phenomenon.

Le Dinh Quyet, head of the weather forecast division at the southern hydro-meteorological station, explained that hail typically occurs in hot, humid weather patterns, followed by rainfall.

The formation of hail is facilitated by high temperatures, humidity, and intense convection, leading to the development of convective clouds stretching tens of kilometers high. 

Within these clouds, water droplets condense, freeze into ice, and subsequently fall as hailstones.

Quyet stated that Friday’s occurrence of hail is not uncommon as this weather condition occasionally appears in Ho Chi Minh City, with annual statistics typically recording one to two instances. 

However, he cautioned that hail creates significant hazards. 

While small hailstones pose minimal danger, larger ones can puncture corrugated iron roofs, damage crops, shatter windows of houses and vehicles, and even cause injury if they strike individuals.

Friday afternoon’s heavy rain also resulted in trees falling on Pham Ngoc Thach Street in District 1, causing traffic congestion, while a car sustained damage from a falling tree branch on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in the same district.

According to Quyet, turbulence forming in the waters off the southern coast of the East Vietnam Sea is expected to move westward near the coastal provinces of the Mekong Delta region on Friday night and Saturday. 

In the waters off the coast of the south, the southwest wind is of moderate intensity.

As a result, the weather in the southern region, particularly in Ho Chi Minh City, will be characterized by sunny and hot conditions during daytime, and rainfall in the afternoons and evenings.

Precipitation is expected to increase, mainly in the coastal areas of the Mekong Delta and the northern part of the southeastern region, with some locations experiencing moderate to heavy rain.

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