Vietnam's National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said on the morning of July 4 that the storm had moved into the eastern waters of the northern Gulf of Tonkin overnight.
The storm's circulation brought sustained force 7 winds, with gusts reaching force 9, to the Bach Long Vi Special Zone.
Storm Maysak heads towards the waters off Quang Ninh Province (Photo: Disaster monitoring system).
At 5 am, Storm Maysak was packing sustained winds of force 8 to 9, equivalent to 62-88 km/h, with gusts up to force 11. The storm was located about 100 km east south-east of the Bach Long Vi Special Zone in Haiphong and around 200 km south-east of Mong Cai in Quang Ninh Province. It was forecast to move north-west at around 15 km/h over the following three hours.
Forecasters said the storm would move into the coastal waters of Quang Ninh Province later on July 4 while maintaining force 8 to 9 intensity, with gusts up to force 11. Coastal areas of Quang Ninh Province, Haiphong and Hung Yen Province are expected to experience the strongest impacts.
By the early hours of July 5, the storm is forecast to weaken into a tropical depression over southern Guangxi in China.
From midday on July 4, coastal areas of Quang Ninh Province, Haiphong and Hung Yen Province are expected to experience force 6 winds, increasing to force 7 to 8 near the storm's centre, with gusts of force 9 to 10. Waves are forecast to reach 2 to 3 metres, while storm surge could raise sea levels by 0.2 to 0.4 metres.
The weather agency also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall across northeastern Vietnam and Thanh Hoa Province from July 4 through July 5. Rainfall totals of 100 to 200 mm are expected across most areas, increasing to 200 to 300 mm in parts of the northeast, with isolated locations likely to receive more than 500 mm.
Authorities warned that the storm's circulation could trigger thunderstorms, tornadoes and damaging wind gusts both before and during landfall.
