Information about a storm operating near the East Sea makes people worried because February is usually the low season of the storm season.
According to Mr. Mai Van Khiem - Director of the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, Department of Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, last night (February 4), the tropical depression in the eastern Philippines area strengthened into a storm, with the international name Penha. This storm's name was given by Macau (China), this is 1 of 8 new scenic spots of Macau.
The director of the meteorological agency said that Penha is the 2nd storm in the Northwest Pacific region in 2026. At 13:00 on February 5, the storm's center was located at about 8.6 degrees north latitude - 128.2 degrees east longitude, about 200km east of the mainland Philippines. The storm has a strength of level 8, gusts of level 10.
This storm is moving in a west direction. Forecast in the next 24 - 48 hours, the storm is likely to weaken into a tropical depression, then it is likely to move into the East Sea in the form of a tropical depression or low pressure area, then dissipate quickly at sea, unlikely to affect the mainland of Vietnam" - Mr. Khiem said.
According to multi-year averages, in February in the East Sea there were 0.1 storms/tropical depressions, not making landfall in Vietnam.
Mr. Mai Van Khiem assessed that in 2026, the atmosphere-ocean system may undergo many phase transition states. By mid-year, the weather may be dominated by the neutral ENSO state and by the end of the year, the ability to be affected by the El Nino hot phase.
With the continuous phase transition nature of such a large-scale ENSO phenomenon, the atmosphere-ocean conditions will be unstable. This may be the cause of extreme weather and climate phenomena such as strong storms, heavy rains... appearing in 2026" - Mr. Khiem said.
Regarding the nature and trend of natural disasters, Mr. Khiem said that currently, the impacts and consequences of climate change have been clearly seen, making weather and climate increasingly extreme, unstable and abnormal.
We cannot be sure when extreme natural disasters will occur, but it is almost certain that the frequency, intensity and severity of extreme weather phenomena will continue to increase in the future, not just in 2026 alone.
Therefore, closely monitoring weather developments and regularly updating forecast bulletins, especially short-term forecasts, is extremely necessary to proactively respond" - Mr. Khiem recommended.
