This afternoon (September 18), on its fanpage, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting issued a warning to people about fake news about tropical depression/storm No. 4.

According to the Center, the tropical depression is still offshore and has not entered as rumored online.

This afternoon and evening, Quang Tri - Quang Ngai provinces will have a temporary decrease in rain. This is not a phenomenon of rain reduction when the storm center passes.

“The tropical depression is still far away from the Hoang Sa archipelago, it will approach the shore tomorrow morning and cause heavy rain and strong winds again from midnight to tomorrow morning (September 19), especially in the provinces from Quang Nam to Nghe An.

"We hope people will not be complacent and think the storm has passed and lose vigilance," the meteorological agency emphasized.

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Direction of movement of tropical depression on the afternoon of September 18. Source: VNDMS

At the same time, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that currently on social networking platforms, there are too many "self-proclaimed and virtual storm experts" who are "slashing" that the tropical depression/storm has entered the Central region, so the Center has issued this warning.

In particular, the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting is the only agency that issues and broadcasts bulletins on forecasts and warnings of hydro-meteorological disasters and disaster risk levels nationwide according to regulations.

Citizens only follow the Center's page or other official pages that cite sources from the Center. Sources that are not directly issued by the Center are all unverified and fabricated news.

On the same afternoon, the Center's bulletin said that at 4 p.m., the center of the tropical depression was located over the Hoang Sa archipelago, about 430 km east-northeast of Da Nang. The strongest wind near the center of the tropical depression was level 7 (50-61 km/h), gusting to level 9; moving mainly west at a speed of about 15 km/h.

It is forecasted that in the next 12 hours, the tropical depression will likely strengthen into a storm, level 8 intensity, gust level 10.

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Due to the influence of the tropical depression, which later strengthened into a storm, the North East Sea area (including the Hoang Sa archipelago), the sea area from Nghe An to Quang Ngai (including Ly Son island district, Cu Lao Cham, Con Co, Hon Ngu) had strong winds of level 6-7, waves 2-4m high, the area near the storm center had winds of level 8 (62-74km/h), gusts of level 10 (89-102km/h), waves 3-5m high, rough seas.

Ships operating in the above mentioned dangerous areas are likely to be affected by storms, whirlwinds, strong winds and large waves.

Coastal provinces from Quang Binh to Quang Nam need to be on guard against rising water levels due to strong winds of 0.3-0.5m, combined with high tides and big waves causing landslides of sea dykes and embankments, and flooding in low-lying areas.

On land, from early morning and September 19, coastal mainland areas from Ha Tinh to Quang Ngai will have winds gradually increasing to level 6-7, near the storm's eye level 8 (62-74km/h), gusting to level 10 (89-102km/h); deep inland, winds gusting to level 6-7.

From this evening to September 20, in the North Central and Central Central regions, there will be heavy to very heavy rain with common rainfall from 100-300mm, locally over 500mm. From this evening to September 19, the Central Highlands and the South will have moderate rain, heavy rain and thunderstorms, locally very heavy rain with common rainfall from 30-60mm, some places over 100mm (rain concentrated in the afternoon and night).

Tropical depression 180km from Hoang Sa, Central region begins to have heavy rain

Tropical depression 180km from Hoang Sa, Central region begins to have heavy rain

The tropical depression is 180km from Hoang Sa and is forecast to strengthen into storm No. 4 with a level 8 intensity in the next 24 hours. Due to the influence of the circulation before the tropical depression/storm, the Central region has begun to experience heavy rain, with some places experiencing up to 500mm/period.
Why is there heavy rain in the Central region even though storm number 4 has not officially formed?

Why is there heavy rain in the Central region even though storm number 4 has not officially formed?

Meteorological experts have identified the main developments of the tropical depression that is about to strengthen into storm No. 4. In particular, the frontal circulation of the tropical depression combined with the tropical convergence zone has caused heavy rain in the North and Central Central regions.
Storm No. 4 is coming, Central region will have widespread heavy rain from September 18

Storm No. 4 is coming, Central region will have widespread heavy rain from September 18

From the evening of September 18 to 21, the North and Central Central regions are likely to experience widespread heavy rain with rainfall of over 500mm in some places. The North and South regions will continue to experience localized heavy rain in the evening.