Rains and the bitter cold weather in the northern mountainous provinces since February 19 have left over 1,000 cattle dead, with Son La Province losing nearly 400 cattle.

The national steering committee for natural disaster prevention and control said yesterday evening, February 21, that over 880 buffaloes and cows and nearly 130 goats succumbed to the cold spell.

Besides Son La, Hoa Binh lost over 170 head of livestock, while Lang Son lost nearly 150 head of cattle. Lao Cai, Dien Bien and Bac Kan each recorded 30-40 dead cattle due to the extreme weather.

The cold snap also forced 15 provinces and cities in the north to allow students to switch from in-person to virtual learning.

Over the past three days, as the cold spell has been raging through the northern region, 25 northern localities experienced low temperatures at below 10 degrees Celsius. The Mau Son Mountain in Lang Son recorded the lowest temperature at minus one degree. Further, frost has also appeared in many mountainous areas.

The national weather center forecast that the cold spell could last until February 24. 

According to meteorologists, the ongoing cold spell in the North and parts of the central region is rare. Statistics over the past 40 years show that the cold spell in late February 2022 is just one of six years with very low temperatures. 

The longest cold spell took place from January 14 to February 20, 2008 (38 days), with the lowest temperature of -1 degree Celsius in Sa Pa (Lao Cai province) and -2 degrees Celsius in Mau Son peak (Lang Son Province). The cold spell killed 137,932 cattle. 

During the cold spell from January 3 to February 2 in 2011 (31 days) with the lowest temperature of 0 degrees Celsius in Sa Pa (Lao Cai) and -3.6 degrees Celsius in Mau Son (Lang Son), over 30,000 cattle died. 

The cold wave from January 22-28, 2016 had the lowest temperature in history, and occurred on a large scale. Some places had very low temperatures such as: Mau Son (Lang Son) -5 degrees and Sa Pa (Lao Cai) -4.2 degrees. The cold wave killed 36,678 cattle. 

The cold spell from January 7-13, 2021 had a low temperature of -2.2 degrees in Sa Pa (Lao Cai), and -3.4 degrees Celsius in Mau Son (Lang Son).

Farmers in several mountainous districts in the central province of Nghe An have suffered heavy losses as hundreds of their buffaloes and cows have died in the ongoing cold spell. 

Photos taken by VietNamNet in the mountainous district of Ky Son in Nghe An Province:

Quoc Huy - Tran Thuong

Cold spell to cause temperatures to drop as the north faces frosty conditions

A strong cold spell is forecast to hit the country's northern and north-central regions starting from February 13, bringing with it spells of rain, frost, and a drop in temperatures to below six degrees Celsius in some mountainous areas.