The North suffers from rare super storms

Thunderstorms occurred in at least 7 provinces and cities this afternoon, with the strongest wind in Ha Long Bay reaching level 10, causing a tourist boat carrying 53 people to capsize.

After three days of hot weather of 35-37 degrees Celsius, from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. today, at least 7 provinces and cities including Quang Ninh, Bac Ninh, Hung Yen, Phu Tho, Ninh Binh, Thai Nguyen and Hanoi suffered from thunderstorms and lightning lasting 1-2 hours, with hail in Quang Ninh.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that Cua Ong station (Quang Ninh) recorded strong winds of 16 m/s (level 7), Bai Chay (Quang Ninh) gusts of 26 m/s (level 10), Bach Long Vi ( Hai Phong ) gusts of 18 m/s (level 8).

At this time, the center of storm Wipha is over 1,000 km east of Ha Long Bay, the circulation is about 200-300 km from the center of the storm, the strongest wind is 102 km/h, level 10, gusting to level 12.

Trees fell on Hanoi streets on the afternoon of July 19.

Mr. Mai Van Khiem, Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, said that with the above status, storm Wipha has not yet affected the North or the Gulf of Tonkin. The cause of the strong thunderstorms this afternoon is the influence of the tropical convergence zone with its axis passing through the North combined with the high temperature in the region due to the hot weather.

This causes updrafts (air currents moving vertically upward) to develop strongly in unstable atmospheric conditions, causing strong thunderstorms. These are super tropical thunderstorms (Mesoscale Convective Systems). “These large-scale thunderstorm cloud complexes often cause very heavy rain accompanied by dangerous weather phenomena and are usually rare,” said Mr. Khiem.

This expert explained that super thunderstorm systems have diameters ranging from several kilometers to several hundred kilometers, consisting of many clusters of thunderstorms that develop and combine to form a large system. Super thunderstorms can last for many hours, even 12-24 hours, stronger and longer than single thunderstorms.

The fence surrounding the “Shark Jaws” building in Hanoi, which is being demolished, was torn down on the afternoon of July 19.

Unlike storms, thunderstorms can only be warned and monitored when they appear, 30 minutes to 2 hours in advance. Regarding this super thunderstorm, at 11:45, the Quang Ninh Province Hydrometeorological Station issued a bulletin warning of thunderstorms, tornadoes, lightning, hail and localized heavy rain. The bulletin stated that at 11:45, convective clouds were developing, causing showers and thunderstorms in the areas of Mong Cai 1, Mong Cai 2, Mong Cai 3, and Vinh Thuc wards.

This bulletin also stated that thunderstorms are likely to spread to the following areas: Quang Ha, Duong Hoa, Quang Duc, Hai Son, Hai Ninh, Dam Ha, Cai Chien, Hoanh Mo, Luc Hon, Binh Lieu, Dien Xa, Tien Yen, Dong Ngu, Hai Lang, Quang Tan, Hai Hoa communes and neighboring wards and communes.

In addition, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting has issued two tornado warning bulletins. The first bulletin for the entire North at 2:30 p.m., the second bulletin for Hanoi alone at 4:10 p.m.

“During thunderstorms, be on guard against lightning, tornadoes, strong gusts of wind and landslides that can break trees, damage houses, traffic works, infrastructure and endanger human lives,” the bulletin warns.

According to Mr. Mai Van Khiem, there will be no rain tonight in Quang Ninh, northwest wind level 3-4; there will be showers and thunderstorms in the early morning, visibility will decrease to 4-10 km in the rain. Tomorrow morning, there will be no rain in Ha Long area, weak wind, from noon and tomorrow afternoon there will be showers and thunderstorms, waves 1-1.5 m high.

Storms caused a tourist boat carrying 48 tourists and 5 crew members to capsize while visiting Ha Long Bay at 1:30 p.m. By 9 p.m., authorities had found 11 survivors and 34 bodies, with 8 people still missing. Many localities have also recorded damage and are currently making statistics.

Source vnexpress.net

Source: https://baophutho.vn/mien-bac-hung-chiu-sieu-giong-hiem-gap-236417.htm