The outer circulation of Typhoon Bavi is expected to bring strong winds and rough seas to parts of Vietnam's maritime areas, despite forecasts indicating that the storm will not enter the East Sea.
Typhoon Bavi is likely to make landfall in the area between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in China (Photo: Disaster monitoring system).
According to the National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting, at 7 am on July 10, Typhoon Bavi was located about 650km southeast of Taiwan and roughly 1,000km southeast of Fujian Province, China. The storm had weakened significantly, with maximum sustained winds dropping to Category 14 on Vietnam's wind scale, two categories lower than the previous day.
Over the next 24 hours, the typhoon is forecast to move northwest at about 25kph while continuing to weaken.
Forecasters said the storm is expected to turn further north over the following two to three days, making landfall between Fujian and Zhejiang provinces in China late on July 11 or early on July 12. It is expected to strike the coast with winds of Category 10 to 12 and gusts reaching Category 14.
Although Bavi is not forecast to move into the East Sea, its outer bands are expected to affect waters stretching from Khanh Hoa Province to Vinh Long Province, as well as the central and southern parts of the East Sea, including the Truong Sa Special Zone. Winds of Category 6 with gusts of Category 7 to 8 are forecast, creating rough sea conditions.
In the eastern part of the northern East Sea, winds are expected to strengthen to Category 6 with gusts of up to Category 8, while waves are forecast to reach heights of two to four metres.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the typhoon season, the weather agency said the influence of El Niño is likely to reduce the number of tropical storms and typhoons forming over the East Sea this year to around eight to 10, below the long-term average.
Of those, three to five storms are expected to affect Vietnam's mainland, with most likely to strike northern regions between July and September and central regions between October and November. Forecasters said southern Vietnam could also be affected by late-season storms in the final months of the year.