HCMC – Storm Matmo is forecast to intensify as it moves across the northern part of the East Sea, around 750 kilometers from Vietnam’s Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting (NCHMF).
At 7 a.m. today, October 3, the storm’s center was located east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, packing winds of up to 102 kilometers per hour and gusts reaching 133 kilometers per hour. It was moving west-northwest at around 25 kilometers per hour.
By 7 a.m. on October 5, Matmo is expected to be in the northwestern part of the East Sea, around 200 kilometers southeast of China’s Leizhou Peninsula, with sustained winds of up to 133 kilometers per hour and gusts of 167 kilometers per hour. The storm is expected to continue on a west-northwest track.
On October 6, the storm could approach northeastern Vietnam with winds of up to 102 kilometers per hour before entering the northern Gulf of Tonkin, where it is likely to weaken.
Over the next three to four days, Matmo is projected to maintain its west-northwest direction and gradually lose strength, the weather forecaster said.
