Holidays, where to go to escape the heat?

Increased heat

Yesterday (April 4), Ho Chi Minh City experienced a day of intense heat. The sun was still shining from morning until 5 p.m., and the temperature was still high. This atmosphere made the city's residents wonder what the weather would be like on the occasion of the Hung Kings' Commemoration Day on the 10th day of the third lunar month (April 7). Will it be pleasant and convenient for resting and having fun? Because at this time, the city named after Uncle Ho is bustling with many programs and activities preparing for the 50th anniversary of the country's reunification.

The South is forecast to have hot days up to 38 degrees Celsius in April. PHOTO: Chi Nhan

In fact, a week before the Hung Kings' death anniversary, the festival atmosphere in Ho Chi Minh City officially began with the "Fragrance and beauty of 3 regions" folk culture festival at Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens. Not just a culinary activity, the festival is also a cozy cultural space, converging the unique quintessence of the 3 regions of North - Central - South, combining meaningful activities towards the national origin. The program has attracted a lot of people to participate in the experience. However, many people still limit going out or participating in outdoor activities because of the intense heat. Mr. TKH, who just visited the "Fragrance and beauty of 3 regions" festival, said that the extremely hot weather greatly affected the activities during the day. Although there were quite a lot of domestic and foreign tourists, they were quite excited, but after a while they got tired. He himself was the same, he walked around, bought some Cao Bang specialties such as Lam tea, black jelly; specialty cakes of Vinh Long... then had to sit down to rest because of the extreme heat.

Currently, along with the bustling atmosphere of activities celebrating the Hung Kings' death anniversary and the April 30 holiday, the temperature is also increasing rapidly. As soon as the unseasonal rain has ended, the recent days of intense heat have returned to Ho Chi Minh City, especially at noon and early afternoon with temperatures reaching 37 - 38 degrees Celsius. Mr. Le Minh Tri (residing in Tan Binh District) said: "My family really likes to participate in community experience activities, especially during the holidays. This is an opportunity to explore the culture of places right in Ho Chi Minh City. However, this season, intense heat is a big obstacle. Although unseasonal rains appear quite often this year, every time the rain stops, the heat is so intense that it is very worrying. Therefore, I also limit going out on extremely hot days."

Explaining this phenomenon, MSc. Le Thi Xuan Lan, a hydrometeorological forecasting expert, said: The South is in the peak of the dry season, and there are usually still unseasonal rains. But when there is no rain, the heat is intense like the past few days, even stinging the skin because after the spring equinox, solar radiation shines directly on low latitude areas, including Vietnam. The hot time during the day also lasts longer. That is a characteristic of the dry season in the South. In addition, the hot weather is also due to the influence of low pressure from the west.

Mr. Le Dinh Quyet, Head of the Forecast Department of the Southern Hydrometeorological Station (Southern Station), informed: During this holiday, in Ho Chi Minh City, there will be no rain and there will be hot weather with the highest temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. Especially in the central area of the city, there will be severe heat with temperatures up to 37 degrees Celsius. According to the National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting, in the past few days, the Southeast region has been hot with a common temperature of 35 degrees Celsius. The heat warning in the South is likely to last until around April 10. It should be noted that the perceived temperature may differ by 2 - 4 degrees Celsius compared to the actual outdoor temperature, or even higher if there are heat-absorbing surfaces such as concrete, asphalt roads, etc. Due to the high demand for electricity and low humidity, people need to be aware of the risk of explosions and fires in residential areas; in addition, there is the risk of forest fires.

Where can I go to escape the heat this holiday?

Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Ha, an office worker in District 3, said that she usually goes on a vacation to relieve stress on April 30 - May 1, because this is the longest holiday in the first half of the year. However, this year she will change her plan a bit and stay in Ho Chi Minh City to celebrate the big holiday. "I saw on the news that the city has many very attractive activities and want to experience this special atmosphere. Besides, in the past few days I saw the air force organizing very interesting aircraft exercises. Therefore, I will take advantage of the Hung Kings' death anniversary to go somewhere for a few days; I am hesitating between a number of options such as going to Da Lat to escape the heat, going to the Western gardens or going to the beach...", Ms. Ha shared.

In addition, people who travel far away also want to know whether the weather at their destination is favorable or not. Regarding this issue, Mr. Quyet informed: While in Ho Chi Minh City there is heat and localized heat, there is almost no rain in neighboring tourist destinations; only Nha Trang and Da Lat on April 5-6 are likely to have light rain but not significant. Coastal and island sea tourist destinations such as Phu Quoc, Con Dao... have light winds and weak waves, so they are very favorable for sea tourism and boats entering and leaving the island districts. Specifically, in Vung Tau, the common temperature is from 27 - 33 degrees Celsius, Nha Trang is even more ideal with temperatures ranging from 25 - 32 degrees Celsius; Mui Ne, Con Dao, Phu Quoc have common temperatures from 25 - 32 degrees Celsius. Da Lat in particular is from 15 - 28 degrees Celsius, and will increase slightly to 17 - 30 degrees Celsius on April 7.

According to Mr. Quyet, in the first 10 days of April, the cold high pressure in the north will weaken and move eastward, then there is a possibility of an eastward strengthening around April 5-7, but the intensity is weak and short-lived. In the last days of this period, the hot low pressure in the west will develop to the southeast, tending to connect with disturbances in the East Sea to form a northwest-southeast trough that will dominate the weather in the region. Around the last 3-4 days of the weekend, the heat will increase, the weather in the region will be generally hot during the day, with some places experiencing intense heat, with showers and thunderstorms in the evenings and thunderstorms in some places, with thunderstorms tending to increase gradually in the last 1-2 days. "In April, widespread heat waves and severe heat waves appear in many waves with the absolute highest temperature reaching 37 - 38 degrees Celsius in the Eastern provinces. The number of hot days in the Eastern region is generally 10 - 15 days, in the Western region 2 - 5 days, and in the southwestern border region from 5 - 10 days; compared to the average of many years, the number of hot days is 5 - 7 days less," said Mr. Quyet.

So, it can be said that it is very difficult to escape the heat in the south during this holiday season.

Source: National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting