23 Mar 2007
La Nina is forecast to hit Viet Nam in the next two or three months, according to Viet Nam’s National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Deputy director of the National Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Environment Nguyen Duy Chinh warned that Viet Nam and other countries in the Indochinese Peninsula would suffer from more rains and floods than usual as the result of the phenomenon.
Chinh said La Nina might also affect storm systems but admitted this prediction needed more research to come to a final conclusion.
According to meteorologists, La Nina conditions occur when the ocean’s surface temperatures in the central and east-central equatorial Pacific become cooler than normal. These changes affect tropical rainfall patterns and atmospheric winds over the Pacific Ocean, which influence patterns of rainfall and temperatures in many areas around the world.
A research meteorologist at the NOAA Climate Prediction Centre says that La Nina events sometimes follow on the heels of El Nino conditions. It is a naturally occurring phenomenon that can last up to three years. La Nina episodes tend to develop from March to June, reach their peak between December and February, and then weaken during the following March to May period.
La Nina events reoccur approximately every three to five years. The last lengthy La Nina occurred in 1998 to 2001, according to NOAA.
El Nino, a change in Pacific currents has caused a severe water shortage in Viet Nam since late 2006.
jade55
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