The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting has forecast the weather situation and saltwater intrusion in the South in the next 10 days (from May 1 - 10).
The Southwest region is generally sunny during the day, with hot sun in some places, from around April 3rd to 5th, in the evening and evening there will be scattered showers and thunderstorms in some places. The highest temperature in the whole region is commonly from 32 - 35 degrees Celsius.
The water level of stations in the Mekong River basin changes slowly; upstream stations are lower than the multi-year average (multi-year average 2012 - 2025) by 0.1 - 1m, and midstream and downstream stations are higher than the multi-year average by 0.05 - 0.7m.
The water level of the Tien and Hau rivers fluctuates according to the tide. The highest water level of the week at Tan Chau station is 1.3m, at Chau Doc station 1.45m, higher than the multi-year average of the same period from 0.05 - 0.15m.
The tidal water level at Vung Tau station (Ho Chi Minh City), from May 1 - 3, the peak tide tends to increase, the peak tide is about 3.7 - 3.9m taking place at about 1 pm to 3 pm daily.
From May 4th onwards, the peak tide tends to decrease, the peak tide is about 3.3 - 3.7m, taking place at about 10 to 11 am daily.
The tide level at Rach Gia station (An Giang) from May 1 - 5, the peak tide tends to increase, the peak tide is about 0.5 - 0.6m taking place at about 4 to 7 pm daily. From May 6 onwards, the peak tide tends to decrease, the peak tide is about 0.3 - 0.5m, taking place at about 6 to 9 pm daily.
Regarding the trend of saltwater intrusion from May 1-10, saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta gradually increased in the first days of the week and gradually decreased at the end of the week. The highest salinity at stations is lower than the highest salinity in May 2025, especially some stations in Tay Ninh, An Giang, Vinh Long and Ca Mau have higher salinity.
Salinity boundary depth of 4‰ at major river mouths:
Vam Co Dong and Vam Co Tay rivers: Saline intrusion range of 50-55km.
Cua Tieu and Cua Dai rivers: Saline intrusion range of 30-35km.
Ham Luong River: Saline intrusion range 30-35km.
Co Chien River: Saline intrusion range 25-32km.
Hau River: Saline intrusion range 35-40km.
Cai Lon River: Saline intrusion range 30-40km.
The meteorological agency recommends that localities should take advantage of storing fresh water during low tides to serve agriculture and people's livelihoods. Saltwater intrusion at river mouths is gradually decreasing. The saltwater intrusion situation in the Mekong Delta depends on water sources from the upper Mekong River, high tides and will still fluctuate in the coming time. Localities in the Mekong Delta region need to promptly update hydrometeorological forecast information and take proactive measures to prevent saltwater intrusion.
