SEOUL, The season’s first cold wave alerts were issued Monday in parts of Seoul and the central inland area, as temperatures are expected to plunge by more than 10 C overnight.
The Korea Meteorological Administration said cold wave alerts would take effect at 9 p.m. for Seoul’s northeastern and northwestern regions, numerous areas in Gyeonggi Province, and sections of Gangwon, North Chungcheong and North Gyeongsang Provinces. These are the first such alerts in the ongoing autumn season.
In some mountainous regions of Gangwon and North Gyeongsang Provinces, cold wave warnings, one level higher than alerts, would be effective starting at 9 p.m., the weather agency said.
Cold wave alerts are issued when the daily low temperature is expected to drop by 10 C or more compared with the previous day, while cold wave warnings are released for a temperature difference of 15 C or more.
On Tuesday, morning lows across the nation are forecast to range from 1 C to 12 C, marking a sharp drop of more than 10 C from Monday’s morning lows recorded between 15 C and 21 C.
In Seoul, the minimum morning temperature has been predicted at 3 C for Tuesday, about 12 C lower than Monday’s 15.4 C, with the apparent temperature expected to be even lower at minus 1 C.
On Tuesday, the minimum temperature is expected to go down to 5 C in Incheon, 7 C in Daejeon, 8 C in Daegu and 11 C in Busan.
Some northern parts of Gyeonggi and Gangwon Provinces may see their apparent temperatures go below zero.
The weather agency also forecast that mountainous areas in Gangwon may experience snow Monday night, followed by parts of Gyeonggi and North Gyeongsang Provinces on Tuesday morning.
The upcoming cold snap is expected to continue through Wednesday, when the temperatures are expected to go below the zero level in some parts of the nation.
Last Thursday, most parts of the country experienced the warmest November temperatures on record, with unseasonably mild weather driving up the mercury to over 30 C in the southeastern city of Gimhae.
Source: Yonhap News Agency