The strongest cold wave expected to continue until Sunday

The record-breaking cold wave from the North Pole is expected to linger until Christmas. In Jeolla and Jeju, which recorded a lot of snowfall from Thursday, additional snowfall of up to 30 centimeters is expected until Saturday morning.

The Korea Meteorological Administration predicted the lowest temperature nationwide on Saturday, Christmas Eve, from -20 to -2 degrees Celsius. It is colder than the lowest temperature of -16.4 to -3.2 degrees Celsius on Friday, “the coldest day this winter.” With Seoul -13 degrees Celsius, Incheon -12 degrees Celsius, Cheorwon in Gangwon -20 degrees Celsius, Daejeon -13 degrees Celsius, Daegu -11 degrees Celsius, Gwangju -7 degrees Celsius, Busan -8 degrees Celsius, Jeju +3 degrees Celsius, etc., most of the country except Jeju will be below zero. The Korea Meteorological Administration issued a cold wave warning in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Gangwon, North Chungcheong, North Jeolla, and North Gyeongsang after 6:00 p.m. on Friday.

Due to gusty winds, the perceived temperature is expected to be lower. The Korea Meteorological Administration has issued strong wind warnings for the five West Sea islands, South Chungcheong, Jeolla, and parts of North Gyeongsang, and strong wind advisory for Gyeonggi, Gangwon, North Chungcheong, South Jeolla, Busan, Jeju, Ulleungdo, and Dokdo. Although the daytime temperature rises slightly, the central region, such as Seoul (-3 degrees Celsius), and the western part of the southern region, such as Gwangju (-1 degrees Celsius) and Jeonju (-2 degrees Celsius), will still stay below freezing.

The biting cold will likely wield its harsh influence until Sunday, which is Christmas. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, the lowest temperature on Sunday morning is expected to be from -15 to -1 degrees Celsius, and the highest daytime temperature is expected to be from -2 to -8 degrees Celsius.


yeah@donga.com