Vietnam will have a drier, warmer Tet festival this year with higher than average daytime temperatures, though mornings will remain cool, with two cold snaps predicted for February, weather forecasters said.

Nguyen Duc Hoa, of the National Centre for Hydro-Meterological Forecasting, said the country will experience two short severe cold spells through February.

“The average temperature during the Tet festival should be between 0.5 and one degree Celsius higher than previous years,” Hoa was quoted by Dan Tri online newspaper as saying.

He said that forecasts for late January and February indicated the North will continue to experience cold periods associated with Winter, with temperatures dropping by four to seven degrees Celsius in some areas. Mountainous areas like Sapa, Mau Son and Sin Ho will likely see temperatures as low as 0-2 degrees Celsius.

“This year’s Tet festival will see less drizzling rain than the same period from February to March last year,” Hoa said.

However, in the South, cold spells were unlikely. Ho Chi Minh City reported 18.4 degrees Celsius on January 1, compared with 16.4 degrees Celsius in January 2007.

“There will be some slight cold spells bringing the temperature down to less than 20 degrees Celsius in the South in late January and February, but that is above average," he said.

VNA