Incorrect Weather Forecast Causes Chaos

The Korea Meteorological Administration is under fire for making an erroneous forecast. It failed to forecast in time heavy snowfall Friday morning, which caused great inconvenience in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province for commuters.

The weather authority’s belated warning of heavy snow caused a delay in spreading calcium chloride on roads, leading to accidents.

○ Heavy snowfall causes traffic gridlock

The weather watchdog said Thursday, “Starting from the southern area of the nation, snow and rain are expected Friday, and in the late afternoon, the central area will see the same.”

The heavy snowfall, however, hit Seoul and Gyeonggi Province early Friday morning instead. The weather administration changed its forecast at 5 a.m. Friday, saying, “Seoul and Gyeonggi Province will see about one centimeter of snowfall.”

The snowfall became heavier, and a snow warning in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province was issued at 10 a.m. The unexpected heavy traffic caused many to be late for work.

Major roads in and around the capital area saw heavy traffic in the morning yesterday, with cars driving at an average speed of 10 to 20 kilometers an hour.

Office worker Kim Il-bo of the southern Seoul suburb of Anyang said, “I go to work in Samseong-dong, Seoul, by bus. Today I was late about one hour as the bus I was on was stuck in traffic near Namtaeryeong.”

Universities that scheduled essay tests for admission delayed the exams. Seoul National University had scheduled its test for 10 a.m., requiring all takers to be seated by 9 a.m. Only half of the students turned up by 9 a.m., so the starting time was delayed one hour.

Sogang University also pushed back its exam one hour.

○ Storm of protest

The bulletin board of the state-run forecaster’s Web site was flooded with written protests by furious citizens.

University student Kim Eun-ju of Gimpo wrote, “Contrary to the forecast of snow in the afternoon, there was heavy snowfall from the morning. Because of the belated snow warning, I was late for a mid-term exam by 50 minutes.”

Provincial governments also voiced criticism. An official of the northern Seoul suburb of Goyang said, “From 6 a.m., we started spreading 166 tons of calcium chloride onto roads, but it was too late as a thick cover of snow had covered the roads.

“Since we followed the administration’s forecast, we were unable to prepare in advance.”

A Seoul city official also blamed weather authorities, saying, “Isn’t it absurd to spread calcium chloride onto roads when the forecast is no heavy snow in Seoul?”

Citizens are especially angry over repeated errors in forecasting by the country’s weather authority.

A forecast of heavy snow in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province at the end of last year turned out to be false. Provincial governments spread calcium chloride on roads in advance based on the prediction, and this made roads slippery and caused numerous accidents.

A weather official admitted to the mistake, but also blamed global warming for making weather fluctuations greater than before.

“It is next to impossible to make a 100-percent correct weather forecast, even if we put a great deal of resources in it,” he said.