According to Mr. Mai Van Khiem, Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, on the afternoon of January 15, the tropical depression in the east of the Philippines strengthened into a storm, the international name is Nokaen. This storm name was proposed by Laos, Vietnamese means Swallow.
This is the No. 1 storm in 2026 in the Northwest Pacific region. Early yesterday afternoon, the storm intensity was at level 8, gusting at level 10.
Forecast for the next 24 hours, Typhoon Nokaen will move in a north-northwest direction at a speed of about 15km/h and continue to strengthen; then the typhoon will move mainly north along the eastern sea area of the Philippines.
According to Mr. Khiem, because there is currently a cold air mass dominating the East Sea area, the storm is almost unlikely to move into Vietnam's East Sea. It is highly likely that it will dissipate in the eastern sea of the Philippines around January 20-21.
Compared to the average of many years, storms in the Northwest Pacific appear in January early, but it is not uncommon, in the period from 1950 to now, there have been more than 30 storms appearing in January" - Mr. Khiem added.
Regarding the notable sea weather developments in the coming week, according to the meteorological agency, from near morning and January 21, the North East Sea area (including Hoang Sa special zone) has strong Northeast winds at level 6, sometimes level 7, gusts at level 8 - 9, strong sea waves.
From the night of January 22 - 23, the Gulf of Tonkin will have northeast winds gradually strengthening to level 6, gusting to level 7-8, rough seas. From January 23 - 25, the sea area from Quang Tri to Ca Mau, the central East Sea area, the western sea area of the South East Sea (including the western sea area of the Truong Sa archipelago) will have northeast winds gradually strengthening to level 6, sometimes level 7, gusting to level 8-9, rough seas.
The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting forecasts that there is little chance of storms or tropical depressions appearing in the East Sea area from January to March 2026. From April to June 2026, storms or tropical depressions in the East Sea area are equivalent to the multi-year average, but the possibility of landfall in our country is not high.
According to multi-year average data in the period from April to June, there were about 1.8 storms/tropical depressions in the East Sea, making landfall of 0.3 storms.
The most notable phenomenon in the early months of the year is the activity of the northeast monsoon. Strong winds due to the influence of cold air can cause big waves at sea and affect the activities of ships and boats.
