The attack of heavy ’wet snow’

An unprecedented untimely snowstorm has hit the Korean Peninsula, causing significant damage as roofs and structures collapsed under the weight of accumulated snow, resulting in five fatalities. Experts attribute the damage to the unusually heavy ‘wet snow,’ which contains a higher moisture content. With sea surface temperatures around the peninsula remaining high, there is a strong likelihood of repeated wet snow events this winter.

According to the police and fire authorities on Thursday, a street tree fell on a man in his 60s in front of a house in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province around 5 a.m. on the same day. The man, who sustained head injuries, was transported to a hospital but did not survive. Later, at around 9 a.m., the roof of a vinyl greenhouse housing livestock in Hoengseong County, Gangwon Province, collapsed, trapping and killing a 78-year-old resident inside. At 11:59 a.m., the canopy at an auto parts manufacturing plant in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, gave way, resulting in the death of a worker in his 70s. The previous day, in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, a steel net at an outdoor golf course collapsed, killing a worker in his thirties, while in Yangpyeong County, the roof of a home garage caved in, claiming the life of a man in his 80s. Several incidents occurred elsewhere in the metropolitan area, including the collapse of a traditional market’s roofs and the snapping of high-voltage power lines under the snow’s weight, causing power outages in various locations. “Wet snow weighs about three times more than light snow and accumulates five times more easily,” said Jang Eun-cheol of Kongju National University’s Department of Atmospheric Science. “The snow beneath becomes compressed, adding to the overall weight, which makes it extremely hazardous.”

Meanwhile, the overnight snowstorm resulted in record-breaking snow accumulation in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, with 43 centimeters recorded by Thursday morning. In Seoul, the Jongno District weather observation site measured 28.6 centimeters, the third-highest on record, while the Gwanak District saw 41.2 centimeters of snow.


Sung-Jin Park psjin@donga.com