Heavy rains to pour over Korea throughout weekend

Jamsu Bridge in Seoul is closed Friday morning due to the Han River’s rising water level. (Yonhap)

Heavy rain, accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning, is expected to continue over the weekend, with flight operations likely to be canceled or delayed.

The Korea Meteorological Administration forecast heavy rain of as much as 50 to 100 millimeters per hour in the North and South Chungcheong provinces and North Jeolla Province from late Friday night. More than 400 millimeters of rain is forecast for the two areas through Saturday.

In particular, the country is expected to be shrouded in a strong downpour from Friday night to Saturday morning, as a powerful Mongolian cyclone is nearing, which is likely to bring more rainfall across the country.

Torrential rains are to continue Saturday, covering the southern Gyeonggi Province, inland areas of southern Gangwon Province, the mountains of Gangwon Province, the North and South Chungcheong provinces, the South and North Jeolla provinces and North Gyeongsang Province.

The KMA also informed residents here to closely monitor volatile weather conditions and keep up with the latest weather forecasts.

Meanwhile, airport operations could be affected, as severe weather is expected to affect most of the country over the weekend.

According to Korea Airports Corp., 65 flights had already been canceled nationwide due to the weather conditions as of Friday at 3 p.m.

By Park Jun-hee(junheee@heraldcorp.com)