Heavy rains coming as monsoon front lingers over Korea

Intermittent heavy showers are expected to batter the central Korean Peninsula through Monday and next week as the summer monsoon front stalls over the Korean Peninsula, the national weather service said Sunday.

A family uses a picnic mat to take cover from a downpour at Ttukseom Resort near the Han River in Gwangjin District, western Seoul, on Sunday morning. The Korea Meteorological Administration said heavy showers will fall over the country all through the week as the summer monsoon front stalls over the Korean Peninsula. [YONHAP]

Intermittent heavy showers are expected to batter the central Korean Peninsula through Monday and next week as the summer monsoon front stalls over the Korean Peninsula, the national weather service said Sunday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said approximately 26 millimeters (1 inch) of rain fell on Seoul between 11 a.m. and noon on Sunday.

The heavy downpour triggered flood alerts in the capital region and northern Gyeonggi and the closure of multiple streams and riverside trails in the capital region.

Entry to popular recreational areas along Cheonggyecheon, Dorimcheon and Uicheon streams was restricted beginning Sunday morning, while 11 rainwater pumping facilities across the capital were activated.

Over 3,000 extra city and district officials were also called into work at 6:30 a.m. Sunday to stand by in case flood-related emergencies arose.

Public alert messages warning people in flood-prone areas to take extra precautions were also sent out in the morning.

Northwestern areas of Gangwon saw even more rainfall, with hourly precipitation reaching 43 millimeters in Yanggu County.

The heavy rains were interspersed with sunshine in Seoul on Sunday afternoon, but storm clouds and rain are expected to return overnight and last through Monday morning.

The repeated showers are the result of an atmospheric trough passing back and forth over the peninsula, the KMA said.

Total rainfall from Sunday to Monday is expected to measure between 20 and 80 millimeters in most regions of the country and Jeju Island, but the KMA warned that some central areas could see more than 100 millimeters over the 48-hour period.

Sudden downpours are also expected, with the KMA warning that rain could be especially heavy overnight Sunday and certain periods on Monday, accompanied by strong winds, lightning and possibly even hail in some areas.

Precipitation along the eastern coasts of Gangwon and South Gyeongsang is expected to vary between 5 and 60 millimeters, the weather service said.

Over 120 millimeters of rain is expected to fall on already-soaked areas in North Korea that border the South, such as Yongyon County in Hwanghae Province, which recorded 100 millimeters of rainfall over twelve hours on Sunday.

More rain will likely continue to drench the country into the week as high-pressure atmospheric areas centered on the dry and cold Tibetan Plateau and the warm and humid northern Pacific Ocean meet over the Korean Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday, forming a long east-west monsoon front.

The KMA said this front will likely fluctuate but remain mostly stalled over the peninsula, with rain forecast for every day until July 17.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]