SEOUL, The nation is bracing for an arctic cold wave later this week, with morning lows plummeting to between minus 19 C and minus 5 C across the country, the state weather agency said Wednesday.
The season's strongest cold wave is forecast to peak on Thursday and Friday, when the minimum temperatures will drop to minus 15 C in Seoul, minus 18 C in the northeastern city of Chuncheon, minus 13 C in the central city of Daejeon and minus 6 C in the southern city of Busan, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
Elementary students wearing heavy coats and winter gear go to school in the southeastern city of Daegu on Dec. 20, 2023.
Daily highs will range from minus 10 C to 2 C during the two days, it said.
As of 8 p.m. Wednesday, the government upped the heavy snow warning to the third-highest level in a four-tier system.
The government earlier issued the second-highest warning after heavy snow advisory was issued for the country's southern regions.
All regions, except the southern resort island of Jeju, had been put under a typhoon warning or advisory, but the KMA had lifted the alerts in the southern regions as of 10 p.m
The warning is issued when the morning low stays below minus 15 C for more than two consecutive days or when the temperature drops more than 15 C to below 3 C.
Some regions in Gangwon and central mountain regions have already been put under a cold wave warning since Saturday.
The agency said strong winds with instantaneous speeds of over 55 kph, or 15 mps, are expected to reinforce the feeling of cold in most regions. It noted the arctic cold wave will be caused by the influx of high-latitude cold air under the influence of a pressure ridge formed in the Ural Mountains.
Meanwhile, the western coastal areas and the southern resort island of Jeju will be hit by heavy snow of up to 30 cm until Thursday night, as very cold air will keep flowing into the Yellow Sea amid the expansion of the continental high pressure, the KMA said. The snow will continue in the western parts of the southwestern provinces of Jeolla and Jeju until Friday night, it added.
Source: Yonhap News Agency