On Tuesday morning, a tropical depression that formed off the eastern coast of the Philippines strengthened into a storm internationally named Saudel, which is forecast to move into the East Sea in the coming time, the National Hydrology Meteorology Forecast Centre (NCHFM) said.

The expected track of storm Saudel

At 7 am today, 20 October, storm Saudel hang out in the eastward of Philippines’ Luzon Island with sustained wind speed of 60 - 75 kph. The storm is expected to continue moving more westward into the East Sea in the next 48 hours.

At 7 am on Wednesday, the center of storm Saudel is forecast to be located near latitude 16°2’N and longitude 119°0’E, about 740 kilometers southeast of the Hoang Sa Archipelago.

At 7am on Friday, 23 October, Saudel will hit the Hoang Sa Archipelago with maximum sustained winds near its centre at 100–115 kph. However, as the storm moves closer to Viet Nam, it’s predicted to weaken until it hits the mainland on Saturday, 24 October.

It remains unclear at the moment where exactly the storm will land. However, the Vietnamese forecasters warned of the possibility of the storm making a landfall in Central Viet Nam on Saturday.

Meanwhile, according to Japan’s national forecasting agency, Saudel is expected to be weaker than Noul and Nangka, though the agency warns that the storm will have an expansive area of effect, so stormy weather might be on the horizon for many localities across Northern and Central Viet Nam.

The NCHFM has just refuted a rumour being spread on social networking sites over recent times that Saudel could boast a gust of level 17.

Under the influence of the fresh storm combined with a cold front, some parts of central Viet Nam from Quang Tri to Quang Ngai, including Da Nang, could be get heavily soaked by the unpleasant wet weather with stretches of moderate to heavy downpours from now into late Wednesday, national weather forecasters said. 

The total rainfall of 100mm- 150 mm is highly likely to pour down onto these localities, even over 200mm in some of their parts.

By TRIEU TUNG- Translated by A.T