According to Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation (VATM), on the evening of June 4, a very strong thunderstorm appeared in the Noi Bai airport area, reducing the horizontal visibility to below 1km and windbreaks appeared on the runways.
Although the thunderstorm only lasted for about an hour, strong winds and accompanying gusts of wind significantly affected flight operations, forcing many flights to fly waiting in the air or divert to alternate airports to ensure safety.
Noi Bai Aviation Meteorological Center (AMO Noi Bai) said that this extreme weather phenomenon originates from the influence of a low pressure trough compressed by a weak cold air mass from the North, combined with wind convergence at an altitude of about 3,000m. This makes the Northern region, including Noi Bai airport, located in a strong convergence zone.
Along with the common daytime temperature from 36 - 37 degrees Celsius, high humidity and unstable atmosphere have created conditions for convective clouds to develop strongly, making thunderstorms more intense.
According to AMO Noi Bai's assessment, this is one of the dangerous weather spells with the strongest wind intensity affecting Noi Bai airport since the beginning of 2026 to date.
Faced with complex weather developments, the on-duty teams of AMO Noi Bai proactively forecast and early warned of the risk of strong thunderstorms accompanied by gusts of wind through the exploitation of numerical forecasting products, satellite cloud images, radar images and modern monitoring equipment systems.
The unit also continuously issues extremely short-term forecast and consulting bulletins with a duration of 1-3 hours to provide to relevant agencies and units.
Thanks to the timely and accurate meteorological information provided, flight operations are effectively supported, contributing to minimizing the impact of dangerous weather and ensuring operational safety at Noi Bai airport.
Representatives of VATM said that thunderstorms are one of the most dangerous weather phenomena for aviation operations. Accurately forecasting the time of appearance and end of thunderstorms as well as the intensity of accompanying phenomena such as reduced visibility, strong winds, gusts of wind or gusts of wind is of particular importance to flight operations.
This is the basis for air traffic controllers, Air Traffic Management Center, airlines and related units to coordinate to develop appropriate operating plans, calculate take-off and landing times and regulate flight traffic, thereby ensuring safety, improving operational efficiency and minimizing the impact of dangerous weather," a representative of VATM said.
